By Ayo Yusuf
Barely one and a half months before the governorship election in Kogi State, there is widespread anxiety as the Supreme Court prepares to deliver judgment on Smart Adeyemi’s suit challenging the conduct of the All Progressives Congress governorship primary election in the state.
Senator Adeyemi insists that the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 and the guidelines of the APC were not duly followed during the election.
The former senator also claims that the results announced by the APC which gave Ahmed Ododo the victory were fraudulent and invalid, arguing that the primary election was conducted in only 11 out of 239 wards in the state.
A Federal High Court in Abuja and the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal had previously delivered judgments against him on the ground that the allegations of malpractices had not been proved as required by law.
Senator Adeyemi had rejected the judgment and taken his case to the apex court.
At Thursday’s hearing of the appeal at the Supreme Court, Senator Adeyemi lawyer’s Musibawu Adetunmbi, SAN, after adopting his briefs prayed the apex court to grant the reliefs sought by Adeyemi.
The lawyer argued that the primary election of April 14 was conducted in gross violation of section 84 of the Electoral Act, 2022.
He claimed that the election was not held in 228 wards and that this claim was supported by INEC’s field officers in their report on the primary election.
However, the APC represented by AbdulWahab Mohammed prayed to the supreme court panel headed by Justice John Okoro to dismiss Adeyemi’s appeal on the ground that it is against the findings of the court of appeal.
On its part, the Independent National Electoral Commission represented by Adeyemi Adeniyi, SAN, after adopting his briefs told the court that the appeal was grossly incompetent and that the decision of the two lower courts should be affirmed because there was no allegation of perversion of justice in the decisions of the two lower courts.
Similarly, the third respondent, Usman Ahmed Ododo, through his counsel, Francis Ekpa, asked the Supreme Court to dismiss the appeal on the ground that it has become academic, adding that the 180 days within which APC can conduct another primary election for nomination of a candidate has expired.
Justice Okoro after taking arguments from the parties fixed judgement on the matter for October 3.
