Kogi gov’ship: S/Court dismisses Adeyemi’s appeal against Ododo

The Supreme Court has dismissed the appeal by Senator Smart Adeyemi challenging the result of the All Progressives Congress (APC) primary in Kogi State.

In a unanimous judgement by a three-member panel of justices, which was read by Justice Emmanuel Agim on Monday, the apex court held that the appeal lacked merit.

“On the whole, this whole appeal fails for lack of merit,” he said.

Adeyemi had challenged the primary that produced Ahmed Usman Ododo as the party’s standard bearer for the November 11 governorship election in Kogi State.

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However, the panel held that Adeyemi failed to show that the judgement of the court that is based on concurrent findings of fact by both the high court and the Court of Appeal were perverse.

The panel awarded the sum of N1 million each to the APC and Ododo.

Adeyemi’s suit with number: FHC/ABJ/CS/556/2023 asked the Federal High Court to declare APC’s primary that produced Usman Ododo as the candidate as illegal, unlawful and invalid for the November governorship election maintaining that the primary was not held as provided in the law. But it was on July 12 dismissed by Justice James Omotosho.

Justice Omotosho had noted that the suit made an allegation of forgery of results of the primary which was criminal and ought to be proved beyond reasonable doubt, adding that failure to discharge the burden of proof by producing the forged results or the original, “is fatal to the case of the applicant.”

The Court of Appeal also agreed with the verdict and dismissed the appeal.