The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja, on Friday, affirmed Ahmed Ododo as the bonafide candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, for the governorship election billed to hold in Kogi State on November 11.
The appellate court, in a unanimous decision by a three-member panel of Justices, upheld the verdict of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which validated the primary election that produced Ododo as the gubernatorial flag-bearer of the APC.
It dismissed two separate appeals that were lodged by two aggrieved governorship aspirants of the party, Senator Smart Adeyemi and Mr. Abubakar Achimugu.
The panel, led by Justice Muhammed Shuaibu, held that both appeals lacked merit.
It held that the Appellants failed to establish their allegations that Ododo emerged through an invalid primary election and that Adeyemi, who hitherto represented Kogi West in the Senate, raised criminal allegations that ought to have been proved beyond reasonable doubt.
Justice Shuaibu further held that the burden of prove was on the Appellant who alleged that the primary election the APC conducted in Kogi state was fraught with irregularities. He also said that the APC placed sufficient materials before the trial court to justify the outcome of the primary poll.
“The evidence placed before the trial court by the Respondents was not controverted by the Appellant in this circumstance, issue one is hereby resolved against the Appellant.
Source: Vanguardngr
