A FEDERAL High Court in Abuja, on Wednesday, July 17, dismissed a suit seeking to invalidate the nomination of Olumide Akpata as validly elected candidate of the Labour Party (LP) for the Edo State governorship election scheduled for September 21.
Justice James Omotosho, in a judgment, agreed with the argument of Akpata’s counsel, Mr. Johnson Usman (SAN), that the plaintiffs in the suit lacked jurisdiction to institute the instant action.
Justice Omotosho further held that “even if the court was to assume jurisdiction, the suit itself lacks any merit.
“Consequently, to save precious judicial time, it is hereby dismissed.”
Recall that the plaintiffs- Mr. Anderson Asemota, a factional governorship candidate of LP; Mr. Monday Mawah, a deputy governorship candidate, and Alhaji Lamidi Apapa, listed as acting national chairman of LP, had filed the suit.
In the further amended originating summons, marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/300/24, dated and filed on May 20, the plaintiffs sued the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Akpata and LP as 1st to 3rd defendants, respectively.
They sought an order mandating INEC to forthwith publish Asemota’s name as the winner of the LP governorship primary election in Edo State, having emerged as the consensus candidate and winner of the February 22 poll conducted by the Primary Election Committee set up by the party’s National Working Committee (NWC), under Apapa’s leadership, for the election.
They also sought an order of perpetual injunction restraining INEC from accepting, recognising or publishing any other name or list purporting to be the name or list of winner of the party’s primary in Edo State other than the one conducted by the Apapa-led leadership, among other reliefs.
However, in a notice of preliminary objection filed on May 23, Usman prayed the court to dismiss the suit on seven grounds.
He argued that the court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain, hear and determine the suit, being an intra-party matter dealing with the conduct of the political party’s primary, vis-a-vis the nomination and sponsorship of a candidate.
He further argued that the suit was incurably incompetent and ought to be struck out in that it was not justiciable, adding that the plaintiffs lacked the requisite locus standi to file the case.
According to him, the suit is incompetent and constitutes an abuse of court process, same being an internal and domestic matter of a political party, among other arguments.
Delivering his judgment, Justice Omotosho held that contrary to the arguments of the plaintiffs, the Court of Appeal had nullified the orders made by the FCT High Court, including the order restraining Julius Abure-led leadership of the party, as being the authentic national executives of LP.
“This means that the 3rd plaintiff (Apapa) and those who were in acting capacity with him immediately had all their decisions nullified and non-existent.
“Thus any letter written by the said acting executives or any decisions, including the purported consensus primary election, which produced the 1st plaintiff (Asemota), are all non-existent, void and of no effect whatsoever.
“It is a trite principle of law that you can’t put something on nothing and expect same to stand. The entire foundation upon which the plaintiffs claim rests have been thoroughly demolished by the decision of the Court of Appeal.
“The argument that the decision of the High Court of the FCT was valid as at when the primary election was conducted may be true to some extent, especially if the Court of Appeal had yet to hand down its judgment.
“The judgment, however, destroys this argument and ensures that the 1st plaintiff, for all intents and purposes, cannot be deemed to be a candidate who emerged from a valid primary election.
“Thus, the 1st plaintiff cannot claim that his name should be accepted by the first defendant as candidate of the third defendant for the governorship elections in Edo State in 2024,” the judge said.
