Court to deliver judgment in suit challenging Yahaya Bello’s Senatorial candidacy on Nov.19

Justice Inyang Edem Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja has scheduled November 19 for judgment in a lawsuit challenging the emergence of former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello as the All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial candidate for Kogi Central.

The judge fixed the date on Monday after legal counsel for the parties involved adopted their final briefs of argument.

The suit was brought before the court by Momoh Yusuf Obaro, an APC senatorial aspirant in Kogi Central, who named the APC, Yahaya Bello, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as defendants.

Obaro claims to be the legitimate winner of the party’s May 18 primary election and has asked the court to declare him the authentic candidate, mandate his name be forwarded to the electoral commission, and compel INEC to publish it accordingly.

In his defense, Yahaya Bello urged the court to dismiss the suit, arguing that it lacks merit and was not filed with an accompanying affidavit as required by law.

The former governor maintained that he secured 72,399 votes to win the primary, while Ibrahim Yakubu Adoke finished second with 319 votes, and the plaintiff came last with 188 votes.