The All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary election in Kogi State, which produced Ahmed Usman Ododo as the party's flagbearer for the November 11 election, was declared invalid by the Court of Appeal in Abuja on Friday.

The appeals court determined that Adekunle Oladapo Otitoju's argument on behalf of Senator Adeyemi was completely without merit and that it should be dismissed.

Adeyemi, who most recently served as the senator for Kogi West, was found to have failed to prove all claims made against the APC and its leaders regarding the handling of the primary election in a unanimous ruling by a three-person panel of court justices.

All three of the issues that were in contention against Adeyemi were settled by Justice Mohammed Lawal Shuaib, who gave the lead judgment.

The allegations of manipulation and falsification of the primary election results made by Adeyemi, according to Shuaib, should have been proven beyond a reasonable doubt as required by law because they are criminal in nature.

He also dismissed another allegation by the appellant that he was denied a fair hearing by the Appeal Committee of the APC based on his petition against the alleged unlawful conduct of the primary election.

He said the issue of denial of a fair hearing was not raised in his originating summons at the Federal High Court and, hence, cannot be raised as a fresh issue at the Court of Appeal.

In the absence of cogent and verifiable evidence on the part of Adeyemi, the Court of Appeal held that his allegations remained mere assertions that could not enjoy any probative value.

Justice Shuaib proceeded to dismiss the appeal for lack of merit.

The Court of Appeal upheld the judgment of Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja, delivered on July 12, which held that Adeyemi did not prove his allegations that Ododo was not lawfully nominated by the APC.