POLITICS In Smart Adeyemi’s petition seeking to have Ododo’s candidacy declared void, the petition Court has reserved judgment in the Kogi APC Gov Primary.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary election in Kogi State, which produced Ahmed Usman Ododo as the party’s nominee for the state’s governorship election scheduled for November 11, was challenged by Senator Smart Adeyemi. The Court of Appeal, Abuja Division on Wednesday reserved judgment in the case.

In a ruling issued on July 12, Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja determined that Adeyemi had failed to establish his claim that Ododo had not been duly nominated by the APC.

Justice Omotosho found that Adeyemi’s claims of result falsification were criminal in character and need to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt in the lawsuit with the case number FHC/CS/556/2023.

He then completely rejected the lawsuit because it lacked merit and substance.

However, Adeyemi moved the Appellate Court to have the verdict set aside because she was unhappy with the ruling, which upheld the outcome of the primary election that produced Ododo as the party’s candidate.

He argued that the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) report and the affidavit that the APC deposed to were inconsistent, and that the trial court had improperly evaluated the proof of evidence that the parties had presented to it.

The APC informed the court that the election was conducted using a secret ballot, despite INEC’s assertion that option A4 mode was used for the primary election it oversaw.

The three-member panel of Justices of the court, presided over by Justice Muhammed Lawal Shuaibu, identified and adopted the processes filed in relation to the subject when it was brought up on Wednesday. They then reserved judgment for a time that would be made known to the parties.

In his lawsuit, Adeyemi claimed that Ododo’s reported selection as the APC governorship candidate was the consequence of a rigged primary election.