The Supreme Court on Thursday, slated October 3, 2023 to deliver judgment in an appeal by Senator Smart Adeyemi against the judgement of the Court of Appeal, Abuja which dismissed his suit challenging the conduct of the April 14, 2023 primary election of the All Progressives congress (APC), for Kogi state governorship election slated for November 11.
Adeyemi is challenging the validity of the primary election which produced Ahmed Usman Ododo as APC’s flagbearer for the forthcoming Kogi state governorship election.
The grouse of the appellant is that the provisions of Electoral Act 2022 and the guidelines of the APC were compromised during the primary election.
Specifically, Adeyemi, who recently represented Kogi West senatorial district in the Senate is claiming that the result of the primary election produced by the APC in support of Ododo was fraudulent and invalid on the ground that the primary election was conducted in only 11 out of 239 wards in the state.
A Federal high court in Abuja and the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal had however delivered judgments against him on the ground that the allegations of malpractices were not proved as required by law, promoting him to go to Supreme Court.
At Thursday’s hearing of the Appeal at the Supreme Court, Adeyemi’s lawyer, Musibawu Adedtunmbi (SAN), after adopting his briefs prayed the Apex Court to grant the reliefs sought by Adeyemi.
The Senior lawyer argued that the primary election of April 14 was conducted in gross violation of Section 84 of the Electoral Act, 2022.
He claimed that the election did not hold in 228 wards and that the claim was supported by INEC’s field officers in their report on the primary election.
The APC, represented by AbdulWahab Mohammed, prayed the Supreme Court panel of Justices, headed by Justice John Inyang Okoro to dismiss Adeyemi’s appeal on the ground that it is against the concurrent findings of fact by the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.
On its part, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) represented by Adeyemi Adeniyi (SAN), after adopting his briefs told Apex Court panel that the appeal was grossly incompetent and that the decision of the two lower courts should be affirmed because there was no allegation of perversion of justice in the decisions of the two lower courts.
Similarly, the third respondent, Usman Ahmed Ododo through his counsel, Francis Ekpa, asked the apex court to dismiss the appeal on the ground that it has become academic, adding that the 180 days within which APC can conduct another primary election for nomination of candidate has since lapsed.
After taking arguments from the parties in the appeal, the court announced that judgment will be delivered on October 3, 2023.
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