Supreme Court sets October 3 for judgment in Kogi APC primaries dispute

The suit challenges the conduct of the primary election of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Kogi State governorship election.

Senator Adeyemi, who recently represented Kogi West Senatorial District in the Senate, is contesting the legitimacy of the election that produced Usman Ododo as the APC's flag bearer for the upcoming November 11 governorship election.

Adeyemi alleges that both the Electoral Act and the APC's guidelines were disregarded during the primary election. Specifically, he claims that the election result in support of Ododo was fraudulent and invalid, arguing that the primary election only took place in 11 out of the 239 wards in the state.

During the hearing, Counsel to Adeyemi, Musibau Adetumbi, presented his case, urging the court to grant Adeyemi's requested relief. Adetumbi argued that the primary election on April 14 was conducted in gross violation of section 84 of the Electoral Act, 2022, with no voting in 228 wards, a claim supported by INEC's field officers in their report.

In response, Counsel for the APC, AbdulWahab Mohammed, called for the dismissal of Adeyemi's appeal, citing the concurrent findings of fact by the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.

The Counsel for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) argued that the appeal was incompetent and should affirm the decisions of the lower courts.

Counsel to Usman Ododo joined the call for dismissal, asserting that the appeal had become academic due to the expiration of the 180-day window within which APC could conduct another primary election for a candidate nomination.

Justice Inyang Okoro, presiding over the case, announced that the final judgment would be delivered on October 3, 2023.