A Federal High Court sitting in Kano has on Thursday ruled the candidature of Abia State Governor-elect Alex Otti who flew the party’s flag in the March 18 election null and void.
The court ruling also affected all the LP candidates in that election and that of February 25 in the 36 states of the federation.
Meanwhile, the court ruling has elicited outrages from the LP. The Lamidi Apapa faction described it as inconsequential, laughable and an evil agenda while insisting that Otti remains the Abia State governor-elect.
Some however feared the court order could have far reaching implications for the party.
Justice Mohammed Nasir Yunusa, in the Thursday ruling on the originating summons filed by Ibrahim Haruna Ibrahim, declared that LP’s handling of the selection of its candidates for the last elections contradicted the mandatory provisions of the Electoral Act 2022.
According to Ibrahim, this rendered the party’s “participation in the general elections of 2023 in Kano State and Abia State as null and void”.
He also said a party that failed to comply with the provisions of Section 77 (2) (3) could not be declared winner of the election.
“This being so, the votes credited to alleged candidates of the 1st Defendant are wasted votes as per the decision of the Supreme Court,” he said.
The court did not mention Otti by name, but he was the party’s governorship candidate in Abia State and was declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) after polling 175,467 votes.
He was trailed by Okey Ahiwe of the PDP who got 88,529 votes, and Enyinnaya Nwafor of the Young Peoples Party (YPP) who had 28,972 votes.
Reacting to the development, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), whose candidate was the runner-up in the Abia State governorship poll, said its lawyers were studying the Kano ruling.
The court ordered as follows:
That every registered political party is bound to comply with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022 in the conduct of its activities and any activity of the political party not done in compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022 is void ab initio.
The 1st Defendant (LP) has carried on with its activities in the selection of its candidates for the General Election in a manner that is at variance with mandatory provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 which renders its participation in the General Elections of 2023 in Kano State and Abia State as null and void.
That the 2nd Defendant (Independent National Electoral Commission) was bound to insist on receiving the Register of Members of the 1st Defendant (LP) and that of other political parties registered in Nigeria in both hard and soft copies in Kano State and the rest of the 35 states of the Federation and the FCT at least 30 days before the 1st Defendant conduct its Primary Elections for its candidates that participated in the General Elections of 25th of February, 2023 and 18th of March,2023 respectively in Kano State and throughout the Federation in compliance with the provisions of Section 77 (3) of the Electoral Act, 2022.
That the failure of the 1st Defendant to submit its Register of Members in Kano State and Abia State is in crass breach of the provisions of Section 77 (3) of the Electoral Act,2022 and the purported Primary Elections of the 1st Defendant is INVALID, NULL AND VOID AND OF NO EFFECT.
That the fundamentally flawed Primary Elections of the 1st Defendant as a result of failure to comply with the mandatory provisions of Section 77 (2) and (3) cannot produce a qualified candidate that participated in the General Elections as held on 25th of February, 2023 and 18th of March, 2023 respectively for all the elective positions in Kano State and Abia State.
That the void Primary Elections of the 1st Defendant cannot produce eligible candidates to be sponsored by the 1st Defendant in the General Election in Kano State and Abia State is of no moment and waste of time.
That the votes cast for all the candidates of the 1st Defendant in Kano State and Abia State in the General Elections of 2023 are wasted votes.
A party that has not complied with the provisions of Section 77 (2) (3) cannot be declared the winner of the election. This being so, the votes credited to alleged candidates of the 1st Defendant are wasted votes as per the decision of the Supreme Court.
The candidates that participated in the Election in Abia State are not parties before this court. As such the Court lacks the jurisdiction to make an order for the issuance of Certificate of Return to them. They are, however, at liberty to seek the said redress in the appropriate Division of the Court.
[The Nation]
