The Court of Appeal in Abuja has validated the election of Governor Idris Wada of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the duly elected governor of Kogi State.

The appeal brought against his election by another PDP chieftain and former governorship aspirant, Alhaji Jibril Isah was dismissed for “lacking in merit and substance”.

In a unanimous judgment delivered by Justice Komolafe Wilson, the appellate court upheld the verdict of a Federal High Court which last year pronounced Wada as governor.

The court of appeal agreed that what Isah brought to the court was a post-election issue which ought to have been filed at the State Election Petition Tribunal instead of a regular court.

The court held that the appellant cleverly dressed his case as a pre-election matter even when the case was filed few days after the election that brought Governor Wada to office had been conducted.

Justice Wilson who read the judgment on behalf of Justice Muktar Huesein, who prepared the verdict, said the Federal High Court which first heard the case ought not to have done so because it lacked jurisdiction to hear a post-election matter.