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From Godwin Tsa, Abuja and Emmanuel Adeyemi, Lokoja
The Abuja division of the Federal High Court has nullified February 7, 2023 delegates list of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for nomination of its candidate for the November governorship election.
It was the verdict of the court that the voided list already submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) did not emanate from a valid primary.
Justice James Omotosho, in his judgment, said the ward and local government congresses were not conducted in compliance with the Electoral Act 2022, and the Constitution of the APC.
Besides, the court held that APC failed to provide credible evidence that INEC monitored the primaries where the list of the delegates was derived from. The suit was filed by a group of aggrieved APC members led by Realwan Okpanachi, and Justice James Omotosho barred the Independent National Electoral commission (INEC) from according recognition or using the unlawful delegates list that emanated from unlawful congresses for the party for the purpose of selecting its governorship flag bearer.
Justice Omotosho, while nullifying the purported Ward and Local Government congresses of February 7, ordered APC leadership to conduct fresh ones that would be in compliance with section 84 of the Electoral Act, 2022 and section 13 of the party’s constitution.
In the judgment, Justice Omotosho agreed with the plaintiffs that the APC in Kogi State failed to conduct ward and local government congresses as stipulated by relevant provisions of the law.
Among others, the judge agreed with Chief Ogwu James Onoja, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and counsel to the plaintiffs, that the APC breached section 84 of the Electoral Act and section 13 of its own constitution by concocting purported list of delegates and submitting same to INEC without the knowledge of registered members of the party in the state.
The judge held that during the trial of the case the APC failed to disclose the venues and time where the purported ward and local government congresses were held and also failed to show the report of INEC officials that purportedly monitored the elections.
Similarly, Justice Omotosho held that the APC failed to produce the result sheet to show the scores recorded by the participants in the purported ward and local government congresses.
Meanwhile, The All Progressives Congress (APC) has adopted the direct primaries for the conduct of the Kogi State governorship primary dilated for Friday April 14.
This was contained in a letter by the Acting National Chairman, Senator Abubakar Kyari to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and aspirants for the election.
The letter read in part: “We refer to our earlier letter dated 25th January, 2023, with reference no: APC/NHDQ/INEC/19/023/191 wherein we notified the Commission of the mode of primary election for the conduct of the Gubernatorial Primary Election in Kogi State.
“However, our great party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has reviewed the modalities for the conduct of the Gubernatorial Primary Election in Kogi State and has therefore resorted to adopt the direct mode of primary election instead of the indirect mode as earlier communicated. The date for the conduct of the primary election still remains Friday 14th April, 2023.
“Following the above, there shall be a Special Congress to ratify the candidate with the highest number of votes at the Gubernatorial Primary Election in Kogi State scheduled for Saturday, 15th April, 2023.”
