The Senator representing Kogi West Senatorial District, Senator Smart Adeyemi, and four others have demanded immediate cancellation of the just concluded All Progressives Congress governorship primary for the selection of the party’s candidate in the forthcoming governorship election in the state.
In separate suits filed by Senator Adeyemi and Shuaib Abubakar respectively, the plaintiffs are asking the court to declare as illegal, unlawful and invalid the purported Direct Primary election said to have been conducted by APC and which produced Ahmed Usman Ododo as the governorship candidate of the APC for November this year election.
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The grouse of the aggrieved governorship aspirants is that the alleged unlawful selection of Ododo ran foul of Section 177 of the 1999 Constitution and Section 29 and 84 of the Electoral Act as well as Article 20 of the APC’s Constitution.
Apart from Adeyemi and Shuaib Abubakar Audu, other aspirants who have already commenced legal action against the outcome of the primary election include a former Minister of State for Education, Professor Stephen Ocheni, Deputy National Publicity Secretary of APC, Martala Yakubu Ajaka and Sanusi Ohiare.
A Federal High Court in Abuja had earlier nullified the first primary election of the party following similar complaints of fraud and irregularities in the conduct of the purported primary election.
Justice James Omotoso had ordered the APC to conduct a fresh primary election in line with the provisions of the law and guidelines and Constitution of the APC.
However, the plaintiffs in the fresh suits amongst others, are praying the court to invoke Section 177 of the Constitution, Sections 29 and 84 of the Electoral Act and Article 20 of the APC’s Constitution, to declare the purported primary election invalid.
Similarly, the aggrieved governorship aspirants also prayed for another order compelling APC to conduct a fresh primary election and to give all aspirants equal opportunity as prescribed by the Electoral Act, 2022.
Senator Adeyemi’s suit and that of Abubakar Audu are instituted on their behalf separately by Oladapo Otitoju.
In a 35-paragraph affidavit in support of his own originating summons, Senator Adeyemi claimed to have obtained his nomination and expression of interest form at N50 million upon which he was screened and cleared to participate in the primary election slated for April 14, 2023.
Adeyemi further claimed that while waiting in his constituency to cast his vote along with his people, he was shocked when information came to him that a purported primary election had been conducted and a purported winner had emerged.
Similarly, Shuaib Abubakar Audu stated that what happened in Kogi State during the purported primary election was contrary to the constitution and should not be allowed to stand.
No date has yet been fixed for hearing of the suits.
The plaintiffs in an interview with journalists outside the Federal High Court in Abuja, where the suits were filed, called on President Muhammadu Buhari, the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Vice President-elect, Senator kashim Shettima and the Arewa Consultative Forum to intervene in order to save democracy in Kogi State.
Editor: Hadiza.A.A
