Kogi APC primary still a hurdle to cross

Though residents and indigenes of Kogi State have commenced a countdown to the November 11 governorship election, the last has not been heard on the primaries conducted by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in respect of that election.

The ex-Governor Bello Matawalle-led primary election committee had, in a report to the National Chairman of the APC, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, dated April 15, 2023, claimed that seven aspirants took part in the primary and that Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo polled 78,704 votes to emerge the winner. A number of the aspirants have continued to rail against the committee’s conclusion. According to the Matawalle-led committee, while Ododo won with 78, 704 votes, Salami Mamodu Ozigi scored 1,506 votes, Abubakar Yahaya Achimugu had 1,159; Shuaibu Abubakar Audu scored 763 votes; Stephen Ikani Ocheni had 552 votes; Sanusi Ohiare 424 votes and Senator Smart Adeyemi won 311 votes.

The seven-member committee said the APC held a direct primary on April  14, 2023 for the nomination of the party’s candidate in the election slated for November 11 and that the election was “free and fair without any incidence of violence, irregularity, or corrupt practices.” It also claimed that the primary was held in “substantial compliance with the Electoral Act, 2022, the Constitution of the All Progressives Congress, and the APC guidelines for the nomination of candidates for general elections, 2023.”

However, counsels  for Senator Adeyemi, who had represented Kogi West Senatorial District in the ninth Senate, have dragged the APC to court, seeking a nullification on account that Ododo was not validly nominated.  In suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/556/23, Senator Adeyemi is seeking a declaration that the failure of the APC to conduct a valid direct primary in the 21 local governments of the state was a violation of Section 117(c ) of the 1999 Constitution, section 29 (1)  and 84(4) of the Electoral Act 2022 and Article 20(4) of the APC Constitution.

He is also seeking an order compelling the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to refuse or reject the nomination of the said Ododo. He is equally seeking an order of the court to compel the APC  to conduct a fresh primary,  giving all aspirants equal opportunity as prescribed by the Electoral Act 2022. His counsel, Adekunle Oladapo Otitoju based his argument on the following submissions: “Having regard to the combined provisions of the law, Section 177(c) of the 1999 Constitution as amended, Section 29(1)  and 84 (4) of the Electoral Act, Article 20 (4) of APC Constitution as amended, whether it is legally permissible for the 1st respondent (APC) to sponsor the 3rd Respondent (Ahmed Usman Ododo)  as its candidate for 2023 gubernatorial election;

“Having regards to the combined provisions of Section 177 of the 1999 Constitution as amended, Section 29(1) and 84(4) of the Electoral Act, Article 20(4) of APC Constitution as amended, as well as the facts and circumstances of this case, whether it is reasonable to hold that a valid direct primary election was conducted for aspirants of the APC for the gubernatorial election in Kogi state.

“Having regards to the combined effect of the provision of Section 177(c) of the 1999 Constitution as amended, Section 29(1) and 84(4) of the Electoral Act, and the decision of the Supreme Court in Jegede & Onor V. INEC & Ors and considering the facts and circumstance of this case. Whether the 2nd Respondent (INEC) can accept the nomination of the 3rd Respondent (Ahmed Usman Ododo), without validly conducted primary election for  aspirant of the APC Kogi State Gubernatorial Election.”

Counsel for Ahmed Usman Ododo, M.Y Abdullahi (SAN), who is leading a team of lawyers, in a written address already filed before the court, claimed that Ododo emerged from a primary of the APC, which he submitted, was conducted by the electoral committee in accordance with Electoral Act 2022, the APC Constitution and guidelines for the conduct of primary elections. The counsels claimed that: “After the conduct of the primary election, the applicant (Adeyemi) submitted a letter of appeal to the appointed APC Kogi State Primary Election Appeal Committee. The Appeal Committee, reached out to the applicant to appear before it to present his case, he failed to so appear, despite which fact, the Appeal Committee still considered his appeal on merit…

“Having conducted the entire process, including hearing the appeal of aggrieved aspirants from the primary election, the 1st respondent (APC) forwarded the name of the 3rd respondent (Ododo) to the second respondent (INEC), as its candidate for the Kogi gubernatorial elections, hence, the applicant, who is unable to take the democratic choice of his political party, has filed the instant originating summons, challenging the conduct of the primary election…”

The  five-member Appeal Committee headed by Lawal Samaila Abdullahi and which included Lucy Akumabor as secretary, Honourable Ruth Ango, Barrister Buhari Yusuf, and Cyril Mokwe also in a report, after receiving petitions from five of the seven aspirants in the April 14 primary, dismissed all the petitions as “lacking in merit.”

According to the report filed before the Federal High Court, those who petitioned the committee included Senator Smart Adeyemi, Prince Shaibu Abubakar Audu, Professor Stephen Ikani Ocheni, Alhaji Muritala Ajaka. However, the petition of Ajaka was discontinued because the committee submitted that he was restrained from participating in the primary via an order of interlocutory injunction in a motion filed before the Kogi State High Court sitting in Lokoja and marked HCL/145M/2023.

The Appeal Committee held: “That all the petitions are devoid of merit having not been substantiated by evidence. All the appellants did was to make unsubstantiated allegations without the necessary particulars such as names, place, ward, and Local Government Areas. The appellants also failed to supply particulars and /or proof which could enable the committee to verify the veracity of the allegations made.”

But Senator Adeyemi in a letter to the national chairman of APC, deputy chairman, (North), national organising secretary and the zonal chairman of the party in the North-Central, North-West, North-East, South-West, and the South-East as well as the appeal committee, titled: “Non-conduct of the primary election in Kogi State,” said the Matawalle-led committee breached the fundamental provisions of the APC Constitution and the Electoral Act 2022 as regards the use of direct primary.

He faulted the procedures adopted during the primary, saying that “the electoral materials ought to be delivered to APC Secretariat Lokoja, from where it ought to be transmitted to all the wards in Kogi State.” He further submitted that the: “Matawalle-led committee, compromised the integrity of the primary election, the Electoral Act as amended and the guideline for the direct primary, when they handed over the materials to the 21 Local Government chairmen to conduct the election in their homes, instead of the various wards as recognised by the provisions of the law in an open place or public place as the case may be. The venue of the election was compromised.” He alleged that the primary panel allowed the process to be hijacked by the state government, by writing figures for the wards without allowing the conduct of primary in the wards. Besides, he told the Appeal Panel that all members of the APC, who waited in the wards, were disenfranchised adding that the results announced were “fictitious” figures that emerged from a staged event. “I, therefore, call on your most humble panel of impartial judges, to immediately cancel all this charade called a direct primary and call for a legitimate direct primary which will enable all the APC members to fully participate in the internal democracy as stipulated by the 1999 constitution, electoral law and APC Constitution,” he stated.

One of his campaign chiefs, Chief Fehinti Dada, also highlighted a number of issues with the April 14 APC primary in Kogi, adding that the best option was for the party to conduct a fresh primary that would guarantee equal opportunity to each contender. He said that the senator decided to approach the court, having exhausted the processes within the party hierarchy. He added that on the day of the primary, some party men were only gathered at the 21 local government headquarters and counted themselves under the guise of Option A4, which he called clear illegality.

The APC chieftain added that the electoral panel failed to produce results from the 239 wards because elections never took place in the wards; the panel only submitted results from 21 local governments; use of Option A4 system, which he said is not known to the Electoral Act 2022. According to him the INEC report and the report of the Electoral Committee contradicted themselves with one claiming that party members cast votes while the other said Option A4 was used.  “For the avoidance of doubt, Option A4 is not recognised by the Electoral Act 2022, which guides the conduct of the primaries,” he said, adding that the committee also failed to display ballot papers used in the wards, while agents of different aspirants affirmed there was no voting.

As the parties await the verdict of the court on the pros and cons of the arguments put forward, the fireworks continue to rage among the Kogi APC stakeholders.

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