The Supreme Court, on Monday, affirmed Ahmed Ododo as the authentic candidate of the All Progressives Congress, (APC), for the Kogi governorship election scheduled for November 11.
In a unanimous decision by a five-member panel of Justices, the apex court dismissed the appeal by Senator Smart Adeyemi, an aggrieved governorship aspirant of the party.
It held that Adeyemi failed to establish why it should set aside the concurrent judgements of both the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal, which dismissed his case against Ododo’s candidacy.
Whereas Justice Inyang Okoro led the apex court panel, the lead judgement was read by Justice Emmanuel Agim.
The apex court held that contrary to Adeyemi’s claim, there was evidence that the primary election that produced Ododo as the gubernatorial flag-bearer of the APC, was validly conducted.
“No ground of appeal suggests that the findings of both the trial court and the lower court were perverse,” Justice Agim held.
He held that the appeal was incompetent, frivolous, vexatious and deserved to be dismissed, adding that Adeyemi failed to disclose any reasonable cause of action against the Respondents.
“On the whole, this appeal fails and it is accordingly dismissed. A cost of one million is hereby awarded against the 1st and 3rd Respondents,” the Supreme Court added.
It will be recalled that the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal had on August 18, held that Adeyemi, who hitherto represented Kogi West in the Senate, raised criminal allegations in his appeal, which it said ought to have been proved beyond reasonable doubt.
It held that the burden of proof was on the Appellant who alleged that the governorship primary election the APC conducted in Kogi state on April 15, was fraught with irregularities.
The appellate court said it was satisfied that the APC placed sufficient materials before the trial court to justify the outcome of the primary poll.
It, therefore, upheld the judgement of Justice James Omotosho of the trial court which had on July 12, dismissed Adeyemi’s suit.
The former lawmaker had in his suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/556/2023, sought the cancellation of the primary election, insisting that Ododo was “fraudulently” nominated by the party.
Adeyemi told the court that he obtained nomination and expression of interest forms from the party at the cost of N50 million, following which he was screened and cleared to participate in the primary election that was slated for April 14, 2023.
He told the court that while he waited at his constituency to cast his vote along with his people, he was shocked when information came to him that the purported primary election had been conducted and a purported winner declared.
Adeyemi 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, Sections 29 and 84 of the Electoral Act as well as Article 20 of the Constitution of the APC.
He alleged that Governor Bello had initially asked all other aspirants to step down for his preferred candidate, Ododo, who is from the same zone as him.
The Plaintiff told the court that by political arrangement, it ought to be the turn of Kogi West, which had not produced a governor in the state’s history.
He prayed the court to declare as illegal, unlawful and invalid, the purported direct primary election said to have been conducted by the APC, through which Ododo emerged as a candidate for the governorship poll.
Likewise, the Plaintiff urged the court to declare the purported primary election invalid and to issue an order, compelling the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, not to recognize Ododo as the bonafide candidate of the party for the governorship election.
Besides, the aggrieved governorship aspirant, through his team of lawyers led by Dr Adekunle Ottitoju, 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.
However, in his judgement, Justice Omotosho held that the Plaintiff did not by way of credible evidence, establish his allegation.
The court held that contrary to the position of the plaintiff, there was evidence that the primary election was validly held and monitored by INEC officials.
It held that the allegations the plaintiff raised in the suit were criminal and therefore ought to have been proved beyond every reasonable doubt as prescribed in section 135 of the Evidence Act.
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