— 19th December 2017
The Court of Appeal in Abuja has sacked Senator Atai Aidoko and has declared Kogi East seat vacant.
The court said it ruled on a pre-election matter instituted before the appellate court.
The judgement was delivered by Justice Abdul Aboki.
Aidoko and Isaac Alfa have been in court claiming to be the legal occupants of the seat. In the judgement, Justice Aboki ruled that the Certificate of Return issued to Aidoko is no longer valid.
The judge said Aidoko was sacked on
grounds that he was not duly elected in the People’s Democratic Party
(PDP) senatorial primary that was conducted in Idah in 2014.
On December 14, 2016, the court ruled
that Senator Aidoko was duly elected as a Senator and ordered the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to issue him a
Certificate of Return. The justice, however, ordered the parties
involved in the Senatorial seat judicial tussle to return to the Federal
High Court to properly prove their cases.
Consequently, Justice Aboki said the seat would remain vacant pending the determination of the case at the Federal High Court.