Kogi APC Ticket: Reliefs for Kogi APC Guber Candidate, Ododo, as S’Court Dismisses Smart Adeyemi’s Appeal

Alex Enumah in Abuja 

The battle over the authentic candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the November 11 governorship election in Kogi State was finally ended on Monday, with the dismissal of the appeal filed by Smart Adeyemi challenging the nomination of Usman Ododo by the party.

A five-member panel of the apex court in a unanimous judgment dismissed the appeal for lacking in merit. The apex court had few weeks ago adjourned to October 23, for judgment after it dismissed the appeal of another aggrieved aspirant of the APC, Abubakar Achimugu, for lacking in merit.

Both Achimugu and Adeyemi are challenging the candidacy of Ododo, who was the immediate past Auditor of Kogi State; while Achimugu claimed that Ododo’s nomination breached provisions of the law, Adeyemi on his part, faulted the primary election that produced Ododo, stating that election did not take place in over 220 electoral wards in the state.

However, both the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal in their separate judgments dismissed the suits for lacking in merit.

Not satisfied, Achimugu and Adeyemi approached the apex court to upturn the judgment of the lower court on grounds that the two lower courts erred in law when they concluded that the did not prove their individual cases before the courts.

While the court had dismissed Achimugu’s case last month, it adjourned to January 23, for judgment in Adeyemi’s case.

However, the five-member panel in its unanimous judgment delivered by Justice Emmanuel Agim, held that they found no reason to disturb the concurrent judgments of the two lower courts.

According to Agim, the appellant though in its argument claimed that the APC did not conduct election in several Local Government Areas in the state, but failed to prove same.

The apex court besides, said that for the apex court to upturn a concurrent judgments of the lower court, the appellant must prove that the judgment of the lower court was perversed and led to a miscarriage.

Having failed to prove that the judgment of the court was perversed, the apex court held that the appeal lacks merit and subsequently dismissed it.

Meanwhile, the apex court slammed a cost of N2 million against the appellant and in favour of the Ododo and APC.

Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja had, in a judgment delivered on July 12, held that Adeyemi did not prove his allegation that Ododo was not lawfully nominated by the APC. 

Adeyemi had alleged in his suit that the primary election that purportedly produced Ododo as the APC governorship candidate did not hold and that the results were forged.

Delivering judgment in the suit marked FHC/CS/556/2023, Justice Omotosho held that Adeyemi’s allegations of results forgery were criminal and must be proved beyond reasonable doubts.

The court had noted that the burden of proof was on the applicant to produce the forged results or the original copies of the results to discharge the burden and added that, failure to discharge the burden was fatal to the applicant’s case and further held that, there was evidence that the primary election was validly held and monitored by INEC.

Dissatisfied with the judgment which affirmed the primary election that produced Ododo as candidate of the party, Adeyemi approached the appellate court to set aside the judgment.

The former lawmaker told the court that Ododo was handpicked as flag-bearer of the party by the outgoing Governor of the state, Yahaya Bello, in gross violation of Section 177 of the 1999 Constitution, Section 29 and 84 of the Electoral Act as well as Article 20 of the Constitution of the APC.

He then prayed the court to order the APC to conduct a fresh primary election and to give all aspirants equal opportunity as prescribed by the Electoral Act, 2022.

But, in his judgment, Justice Omotosho held that the plaintiff did not by way of credible evidence, establish his allegation and said, he found no reason to invalidate the outcome of the primary election and consequently dismissed the suit for lacking in merit.