Two contenders vying for the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship ticket in Kogi State for the upcoming November 11 polls, Senator Smart Adeyemi and Abubakar Achimugu, have escalated their legal challenge to the Supreme Court, seeking the disqualification of Usman Ododo as the APC candidate.
In separate appeals filed with the apex court, Senator Adeyemi is contesting the validity of the primary election that declared Ododo as the winner, while Abubakar Achimugu is questioning Ododo’s eligibility as a candidate.
Previously, both Adeyemi and Achimugu had filed separate lawsuits in a Federal High Court in Abuja. Adeyemi argued that the primary election that produced Ododo violated the provisions of the 1999 Constitution, the Electoral Act, and the APC constitution. Meanwhile, Achimugu raised concerns about Ododo’s eligibility, asserting that he did not resign as an Auditor General for Local Government before participating in the primary.
However, on July 12, the Federal High Court in Abuja, through separate judgments delivered by Justice James Omotosho, dismissed the petitions of Adeyemi and Achimugu for lack of evidence, upholding Ododo’s nomination as lawful. Dissatisfied with the verdict, both aspirants took their cases to the Court of Appeal.
On August 18, the Court of Appeal, in a unanimous decision delivered by Justice Muhammed Shuaibu, affirmed the lower court’s rulings. Now, they have taken their legal challenge to the Supreme Court.
Senator Adeyemi’s primary argument revolves around the alleged partial conduct of the primary elections, claiming that the elections took place in only 11 wards out of 239 in the state.
He questions the handling of results, announcement procedures, and compliance with the Electoral Act’s provisions, particularly regarding the announcement and collation of results at the polling unit and ward levels as stipulated by the law
