By Adodo Osewengie
The Federal High Court Abuja has nullified the candidacy of Senator Andy Uba, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the November 6 Anambra State governorship election, where the Candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, Professor Chukwuma Charles Soludo emerged the winner.
The judge, Justice Inyang Ekwo, delivering the judgement held that the June 26 primary election conducted by the APC that produced Andy Uba as its flagbearer in the November 6 election was illegal.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, the plaintiff, Chief George Moghalu, who was an aspirant, decided to seek redress in court after he was denied by the APC from participating in the primary election, having purchased the expression of interest and nomination forms.
In the suit of Moghalu challenging the validity of the primary elections conducted by the APC, he included the Independent National Electoral Commission as the first defendant and Senator Ifeanyi Uba as the third defendant.
Justice Inyang Ekwo in the judgement, held that the plaintiff was able to prove his case beyond reasonable doubt noting that the conduct of the June 26 primary election, was not in tandem with the provisions of the Electoral Act and the APC guidelines.
In the Judge’s statement, he said, “Therefore, the case of the plaintiff succeeds on its merit.”
According to him, the All Progressives Congress, APC, can not have its name on the ballot of the November 6 Anambra State gubernatorial election with other political parties, having failed to conduct a primary election right on the side of the law.
Ekwo declared that the APC failed in the exclusion of Chief George Moghalu from the contest of the primary election, and this contravenes the Electoral Act and the APC guidelines and as such, the party had no candidate in the concluded November 6 election for the number one seat of Anambra State.
“The 2nd defendant (INEC) is compelled to delist the name of the 1st defendant and 3rd defendant from the Nov. 6, Anambra governorship election,” the Judge ordered.
The real issue was not whether accredited members of 1st defendant voted on that day but whether the election was conducted following the election guidelines of 1st defendant,” Ekwo said.
Also, the Judge noted that the primary election was conducted outside the timeframe according to the police report.
Ekwo also said that the primary election that produce Ifeanyi Uba as the candidate of APC in the November 6 governorship election can best be characterized as “crude and primitive”.
The Judge also in the judgement, directed the All Progressives Congress to refund the sum of N22,500,000 to the plaintiff. This is the sum the plaintiff spent on the purchase of the expression of interest and nomination forms and was, for no tangible reason, excluded from participating in the primary election having complied with the provisions of the law and its guidelines.
Going by the report from NAN, Moghalu had filed the suit at the court in July, praying the court to grant its request by ordering INEC to remove the name of Senator Andy Uba and the APC from the list of gubernatorial candidates and political parties on the ground that the APC failed to adhere to the APC guidelines and the Electoral Act in the conduct of the primary election.
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Moghalu in the suit also demanded a compensation of N100,000,000 “for the breach of contract to commence and conclude the primary election” and a refund of the N22,500,000 spent in purchasing the APC expression of interest and nomination forms.
According to Moghalu in an affidavit to support the suit, he noted that the All Progressives Congress political party failed to conclude the selection process for its candidate for the Anambra state gubernatorial election held November 6, 2021.
He said that for the party to have received his money, N22.5 million, for the purchase of the expression of interest and nomination forms, the APC should have given him the chance “to allow him to participate in the primary election exercise”.
Moghalu also stated he was notified by the APC, a day before the primaries, that the party electoral committee would address all the party aspirants and stakeholders in Awka.
“Shockingly, on June 26, 2021, the said election committee was not seen anywhere in Anambra; no accreditation of voters took place; no voting and collation of votes occurred in all the 326 wards of Anambra state,” he added.
The plaintiff noted that the committee “announced election results it did not conduct, and which fakery was credited to the 3rd defendant as the winner of the primary election scheduled for emergence as APC’s candidate in the November 6 governorship election in Anambra”.
According to the plaintiff, the APC never invited the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to supervise the exercise in line with the Electoral Act. (NAN)
