Kogi Primaries: As the Battle Shifts to the Court of Appeals

The dispute over the right candidate to fly the All Progressives Congress (APC) flag in the November 11, 2023 gubernatorial election in Kogi State looks set for a long drawn out battle. Although the gubernatorial election committee headed by ex-governor Bello Matagall has submitted its report on the April 14 primaries and dismissed Alhaji Usman Ododo, the contenders are not giving up as they await the verdict of the Court of Appeals on the seemingly endless battle.

On July 12, Judge James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja ruled on a complaint filed by Senator Smart Adeyemi challenging the return of Alhaji Usman Ododo as the party's gubernatorial candidate.< /p>

Decision in the lawsuit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/556/23, Judge Omotosho said the original subpoena of the appellant (Senator Adeyemi) was unfounded. He said that Senator Adeyemi had not proven his request and that Ododo had not been validly elected. Judge Omotosho noted that the burden of proof was on the plaintiff to produce the original copies of the results to discharge the burden and added that failure to discharge the burden was fatal to the plaintiff's case. The court held that contrary to the claimant's position, there was evidence that the primary election was validly held and monitored by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The APC electoral commission had heard Adeyemi's appeal shortly after the primary election and that the senator had failed to prove his allegations before the appeals commission.

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The records of the proceedings in the Federal High Court had provided details of the report of the appeal board on which the trial judge had partly relied in reaching his decision. “That all claims are devoid of merit having not been substantiated by evidence. All the callers did was make unsubstantiated claims without the necessary details such as names, location, neighborhood and local government areas. The appellants also failed to provide details and/or evidence that could enable the panel to verify the veracity of the allegations made,” the APC panel had told the court.

Dissatisfied with Judge Omotosho's decision, Senator Adeyemi's lawyers immediately appealed to the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, where they claimed that the trial judge erred in law for having attempted to give legal cover to the APC primary. in Kogi State.

Lawyers further denied any allegation of forgery and asserted that the petitioner's allegations in the lawsuit only upset the CPA's failure to adhere to the CPA's constitution, rules and guidelines in regarding the conduct of the primaries.

On August 9, a three-man panel of the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, headed by Justice Muhammed Lawal Shuaibu, and comprising Justice Abdullazees Wasiri and Justice H.A Abiru, heard this appeal in the context of the lawsuit bearing the reference number CA/ABJ/CV/819/2023. The panel had since deferred its decision on the matter to a later date.

Court documents available to the Nigerian Tribune indicate that Adeyemi, through his counsel, M.J. Numa, (SAN), and Dr. Adekunle Otitoju had petitioned the Abuja Court of Appeal to quash the Federal High Court's decision on "five compelling grounds of appeal, which they say were "interpreted from the erroneous findings of the learned trial judge".

According to the lawyers, it was an undisputed fact that the initial subpoena filed by Adeyemi revolved around the APC's failure to hold direct primaries in accordance with its guidelines and the 2022 electoral law, adding that said Usman Ododo had emerged from a non-existent primary election.

They had also argued that while the conduct of the direct primaries indicated the use of secret ballots in all 239 wards of the state, the APC could not provide evidence of the ballots, having allegedly adopted the system of vote of Option A4, while elections were held at local government level rather than at constituency locations.

"The entirety of appellant's assertion before the trial court and indeed this honorable court was centered on the non-conduct of the election and does not remotely contemplate criminal allegations of any degree whatsoever, but the fact that the 1st Respondent (the APC) produced the election results that would have produced the 3rd Respondent (Usmam Ododo) without first holding direct primary elections as scheduled on April 14, 2023 in neighborhood level,” the lawyers said.

Lawyers rejected the trial court's assertion that the plaintiff had failed to prove beyond "reason...