At the Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday, a suit brought by Smart Adeyemi, an All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirant, against the emergence of Usman Ododo as the party’s candidate in the last primary election was dismissed.
The case, labeled FHC/CS/556/2023 in Smart Adeyemi v. APC & 2 Ors, sought to nullify the APC’s primary for the Kogi governorship election, which had produced Ododo as the candidate for the November election.
Adeyemi argued that the direct primary election was illegal and violated Section 177 of the 1999 Constitution. He also asked the court to order the Independent National Electoral Commission to reject and not recognize Ododo as the APC’s governorship candidate.
Furthermore, Justice Omotosho ruled that the claim that the election did not take place lacked substantiation, as the applicant only presented evidence from their Ward in Ijumu Local Government Area.
The respondents, on the other hand, provided counter-evidence by attaching the monitoring reports of the electoral commission, thereby refuting the applicant’s claims.
“In this case, INEC attached its monitoring report and also attached copies of the result, police report confirming the conduct of the election signed by the Commissioner of Police, the case of the Applicant has no basis.”
He said, “In the final analysis, having reviewed all the evidence in this matter, I have no doubt that the APC primary election result was held in all the wards of Kogi State on the 14th day of April 2023.”
“This Honourable Court will not allow the will of a few, just like that of the applicant, to override the will of the majority. The applicant’s case has no merit. It is hereby dismissed.”
The Justice, therefore, concluded that the case had no basis and dismissed it.
