Sen. Smart Afolabi Adeyemi’s lawsuit contesting the conduct of the All Progressives Congress (APC)’s April 14, 2023, primary election for Kogi State governorship was filed on Thursday in Abuja, and the Supreme Court set October 3 for a final ruling.
Adeyemi contests the legitimacy of the primary vote that resulted in Ahmed Usman Ododo being chosen as the APC’s candidate for the November 11 governorship election.
The complaint of the appellant is that during the primary election, the Electoral Act of 2022’s requirements and the APC’s rules were violated.
Adeyemi, who most recently served as the senator for Kogi West Senatorial District, is arguing that the APC’s announcement of Ododo’s victory was false and illegitimate on the grounds that just 11 of the state’s 239 wards were used for the primary poll.
However, judgements against him had been handed down by the Federal High Court of Abuja and the Abuja division of the Court of Appeal on the grounds that the claims of malpractices had not been proven as needed by law, leading him to appeal to the Supreme Court.
Adeyemi’s attorney Musibawu Adedtunmbi, SAN, pleaded with the Supreme Court to grant the reliefs he had requested during Thursday’s hearing of the Appeal.
The Senior Attorney claimed that section 84 of the Electoral Act of 2022 was flagrantly violated during the primary election on April 14.
In their report on the primary election, INEC’s field officers allegedly corroborated the senior lawyer’s contention that the Election did not take place in 228 wards.
However, the APC requested that the Supreme Court panel led by Justice John Inyang Okoro dismiss Adeyemi’s appeal on the grounds that it is inconsistent with the concurrent findings of fact made by the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. The APC was represented by AbdulWahab Mohammed.
After adopting his briefs, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), represented by Adeyemi Adeniyi SAN, informed the panel of the Apex Court that the appeal was seriously flawed and that the rulings of the two lower courts should stand because there was no claim of judicial perversion in those rulings.
In a similar manner, Usman Ahmed Ododo, the third respondent, requested that the Supreme Court dismiss the appeal on the grounds that it has become academic and that the 180-day window in which the APC could hold another primary election for the nomination of the candidate has since passed through the counsel of Francis Ekpa.
After hearing from the parties’ arguments, Justice Okoro declared that the final judgement would be given on October 3.
