Breaking: Appeal trashes Smart Adeyemi’s suit seeking nullification of Ododo’s candidacy

The All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary election in Kogi State, which produced Ahmed Usman Ododo as the party’s flagbearer for the November 11 election, was declared invalid by the Court of challenge in Abuja on Friday. Senator Smart Adeyemi had filed the challenge.

The appeals court determined that Adekunle Oladapo Otitoju’s argument on behalf of Senator Adeyemi was utterly without merit and that it should be dismissed.

Adeyemi, who most recently served as the senator for Kogi West, was found to have failed to prove all claims made against the APC and its leaders about the handling of the primary election in a three-judge panel of the court’s justices’ unanimous opinion.

All three of the disputes against Adeyemi were settled by Justice Mohammed Lawal Shuaib, who also gave the lead judgment.

Shuaib claimed that the charges made by Adeyemi about the manipulation and falsification of the results of the primary election should have been proven beyond a reasonable doubt in accordance with the law.

In addition, he rejected the appellant’s claim that the APC Appeal Committee unfairly dismissed his petition challenging the alleged irregularities in the primary election process.

He claimed that because it wasn’t addressed in his original summons to the Federal High Court, the issue of being denied a fair hearing cannot be brought up again at the Court of Appeal.

Adeyemi’s statements remained merely assertions, the Court of Appeal found, and could not have any probative value in the absence of strong, verifiable proof on his behalf.

Justice Shuaib then decided the appeal lacked merit and dismissed it.

The Federal High Court in Abuja’s July 12 ruling that Adeyemi had failed to substantiate his claims that Ododo had not been legitimately nominated by the APC was affirmed by the Court of Appeal.