The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja on Friday dismissed an appeal brought before it by Senator Smart Adeyemi, seeking to nullify the primary election of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kogi State which produced Usman Ododo as the party’s flagbearer in the forthcoming November 11 governorship election.
The court held that the appeal argued by Adekunle Oladapo Otitoju, counsel to Senator Adeyemi, was completely bereft of merit and was thrown out.
The Kogi West Senatorial District’s former senator, Adeyemi, was found to have utterly failed to prove all serious criminal claims made against the APC and its officials about the handling of the primary election, according to th three-man panel unanimous decision. Adeyemi had previously served as the senator for that district.
Justice Mohammed Lawal Shuaib who delivered the lead judgement resolved all three issues in dispute against Adeyemi.
Justice Shuaib said the allegations of manipulations and falsifications of the primary election results made by Adeyemi, being criminal in nature, ought to have been proved beyond a reasonable doubt as required by law.
He also dismissed another allegation by the appellant that he was denied a fair hearing by the Appeal Committee of the APC based on his petition against the alleged unlawful conduct of the primary election.
In addition, Justice Shuaib noted that the issue of denial of a fair hearing was not raised in his originating summons at the Federal High Court, and could therefore not be raised as a fresh issue at the Court of Appeal.
In the absence of cogent and verifiable evidence on the part of Adeyemi, the Court of Appeal held that his allegations remained mere assertions that could not enjoy any probative value.
Justice Shuaib proceeded to dismiss the appeal for want of merit.
The Court of Appeal upheld the judgement of Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja delivered on July 12, which held that Adeyemi did not prove his allegations that Ododo was not lawfully nominated by the APC.
