Kogi West: A/Court orders retrial of petition against Senator Melaiye

 The appellate tribunal looking into petitions arising from the National Assembly elections in Kogi State, sitting in Abuja, last week, overruled the decision of the lower tribunal in Lokoja which threw out the case brought against the senator representing Kogi West,  Senator Dino Gbenga Melaiye.  

 It would be recalled that shortly after the Independent National Electoral Commission declared  Melaiye of the All Progressives Congress the winner of the election, the then incumbent Senator Smart  Adeyemi of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rejected the result, claiming he had the highest number of valid votes cast. The legal team of  Adeyemi, which comprises of Chief Kayode  Olatoke (SAN), among others, challenged the election in court. The tribunal in Lokoja had struck out Adeyemi’s case on the grounds that his legal team failed to file a response to the claims raised by the respondents to the petition. Dissatisfied by the ruling, the Adeyemi legal team approached the appellate tribunal, urging it to set aside the ruling of the tribunal which failed to look into the substance of the case. Speaking after the verdict,  Adeyemi expressed satisfaction with the decision of the appellate tribunal. He said his position had been vindicated that the lower tribunal didn’t look dispassionately into his case.  He thanked his constituents for their support, assuring them that their mandate will be recovered.