A Federal High Court in Abuja has nullified the participation of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate, Andy Uba, in the November 6 Anambra governorship election.
Inyang Ekwo, the judge, while delivering judgment on Monday, held that Uba was never a candidate in the poll having emerged from an illegally conducted primary election by the APC.
Ekwo aligned with the plaintiff’s arguments that the June 26 primary election breached the provisions of the Electoral Act and the APC guidelines for the conduct of the exercise.
He held that the plaintiff had successfully demonstrated that the primary election was not conducted in accordance with the law and the party’s guidelines.
“Therefore, the case of the plaintiff succeeds on its merit,” he said.
Ekwo held that since the election was conducted illegally, the APC (1st defendant) cannot be a beneficiary of the Nov. 6 election which produced the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) candidate, Prof. Charles Soludo, as the winner of the poll outcome.
The judge, therefore, declared that the APC had no candidate in the Anambra governorship election by non-inclusion of the name of Moghalu in the primary election, and the conduct of the poll in contravention of the Electoral Act and the party’s guidelines.
The court ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to delete Uba’s name from its record as a candidate in the election.
It also ordered the APC to refund to the plaintiff N22.5 million he paid for expression of interest and nomination forms since the party failed to conduct a valid primary.
The November 6 election was won by the governorship candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), Charles Soludo who is a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
He is due for inauguration in March 2022.
Uba had emerged as the APC’s candidate at a primary election held on June 26, 2021.
Moghalu, an aspirant in the APC primary election, challenged the process and the outcome of the primary election.
In the suit, marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/648/2021, Moghalu contended that the APC did not comply with the relevant provisions of the Electoral Act 2010 and the APC’s regulations and guidelines in the conduct of its governorship primary in Anambra State.
Moghalu urged the court to determine whether a political party that fails to comply with the provisions of the Electoral Act (2010), the party’s constitution and its guideline, can validly field a candidate for the election.
The plaintiff’s lawyer, Chris Uche, who is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), informed the court that his client’s grouse was that the “so-called primary election”, which produced Mr Uba as APC’s candidate for the Anambra governorship poll, breached the Electoral Act and the APC guidelines for the conduct of the exercise.
In his arguments, Uche referenced a report by officials of the INEC which allegedly declared that the primary election did not take place up till 5.30 p.m. when its officials left the primary election venue.
This report, according to the plaintiff’s lawyer, corroborates his client’s claim that the APC did not hold a valid primary in Anambra State.
He prayed the court to declare that, by virtue of the APC’s alleged non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2010 and the party’s regulations and guidelines in the conduct of its primary in Anambra State, Uba “is not a candidate at the said 6th November 2021 gubernatorial election or at any subsequent postponement.”