The Court of Appeal in Abuja delivered a decisive ruling on Friday, August 18, 2023, quashing an appeal brought forward by Senator Smart Adeyemi.
The appeal aimed to nullify the outcome of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary election in Kogi State, where Ahmed Usman Ododo emerged as the party's candidate for the upcoming November 11 poll.
The appellate court, comprising a three-judge panel, unanimously declared the appeal, represented by Adekunle Oladapo Otitoju on behalf of Senator Adeyemi, to be entirely lacking in substance and dismissed it outright.
Justice Mohammed Lawal Shuaib, who led the panel, elucidated that Adeyemi, the former representative of Kogi West Senatorial District in the Senate, fell short in substantiating the allegations leveled against the conduct of the primary election by the APC and its leadership.
In his comprehensive judgment, Justice Shuaib meticulously addressed all three points of contention raised by Adeyemi, ultimately ruling against him. The judge underscored that the accusations of manipulation and falsification of primary election results, being of a criminal nature, were required to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt in accordance with legal standards.
Additionally, the court dismissed Adeyemi's claim that he was deprived of a fair hearing by the APC's Appeal Committee, which was based on his petition denouncing the alleged unlawful practices during the primary election. Justice Shuaib clarified that this aspect was not initially raised in the Federal High Court's original summons and therefore could not be newly introduced at the Court of Appeal.
Given the absence of compelling and substantiated evidence from Adeyemi's side, the Court of Appeal decreed that his allegations remained as mere assertions, carrying no weight in terms of probative value. Consequently, Justice Shuaib concluded the proceedings by dismissing the appeal on the grounds of its lack of merit.