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He claimed that the sum of N22.5 million was meant for the refund of payment for the expression of interest form and nomination form.He also asked the court to order the APC to pay him another sum of N100 million as “exemplary and general damages for the breach of contract to commence and conclude primary election and or breach of Section 87 of the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended) and the regulations and guidelines of the political party.” He had stated that on June 25, 2021, a day to the conclusion of the primary election, he heard that an electoral committee led by the Ogun State Governor, Mr.
Dapo Abiodun, would address all aspirants and stakeholders in Anambra at the Hilton Leisure Hotel, Awka.
He added: “The committee only re-appeared the next day in a hotel at Agulu, Anambra State and announced election results it did not conduct, and which fakery was credited to the third defendant (Andy Uba) as the winner of the primary election scheduled for emergence as APC’s candidate in the November 6 governorship election in Anambra State.” ADC’s poserAPPARENTLY miffed by the entire scenario, National Chairman of African Democratic Congress (ADC), Chief Ralphs Okay Nwosu has asked the INEC to disqualify APC, PDP, APGA and their candidates from the November poll.
Moghalu, who was among 14 aspirants who purchased forms to contest the governorship election, specifically asked the court to declare that the APC failed to conduct a valid primary election in line with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution as amended, the Electoral Act, the APC’s Constitution and guidelines for election and demanded the sum of N122.5 million damages from the party.
In the ruling APGA in the state, it is still being contemplated how far the trio of former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Prof Charles Chukwuma Soludo, who emerged as candidate from the primary conducted by the Chief Victor Oye leadership of the party; House of Representatives member, Chukwuma Umeoji, who was elected from the primary conducted by Jude Okeke faction as well as Edozien Njoku that emerged as candidate from the faction that he leads in the party, would go to authenticate their candidacy.
At the Federal High Court in Awka, where there was a pending suit, the court declared that it did not order INEC not to publish his name as the candidate of the party having emerged after polling the majority of votes at the party’s primary held at the Prof Dora Akunyili Women Development Center, Awka, on June 26, 2021.
But less than five hours after his loyalists celebrated what they assumed had addressed the issue of the rightful candidate of the party in the election, a State High Court 5, presided over by Justice Obiora Nwabunike handed out another ruling, directing INEC to accept and enlist Uba’s name as candidate of PDP for the November 6, election.
The court further held that the PDP, having used the court approved list of candidates to conduct the election which Uba won beating 14 other aspirants, PDP should not have purported to conduct another exercise same day declaring Ozigbo the winner of the primary election.
He therefore, declared that any other result by which Ozigbo was purportedly declared winner was null, void and of no effect for violation of section 25 of the PDP Constitution, Section 87 of the Electoral Act and extant judgment of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory and directive of INEC that PDP should use the list of authentic delegates of the party to conduct the primary election.
An official of the electoral umpire had however admitted that; “conducting elections in Anambra State has always presented a difficult situation for the Commission”, adding that, “we may need to run the election without candidates for some political parties”.
Giving judgment in the substantive suit No: A/230/2021 filed by Uba through his Lawyer, Emeka Nwankwo, against three defendants namely: INEC, PDP and Ozigbo, Justice Nwabunike held that the primary election held by PDP at St.
Paul’s University premises was done in line with the subsisting court order of Justice Adeniyi of the Federal High Court, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja in Suit No.
He argued: “These three political parties have shown gross indiscipline and leadership deficits, which manifested in the way they conducted their party primaries ahead of the forthcoming governorship election.
They have insisted that with the raging controversies and several high court rulings over the rightful candidates produced by the primaries of the leading political parties, the Supreme Court will certainly have a final say should any of the parties eventually win the process as the cases have the potential of getting to the apex court being pre-election cases.
He said that the PDP was bound to accept and forward Uba’s name as the party’s candidate for the forthcoming election.
He told The Guardian in Enugu that “as it happened in Imo State, the Supreme Court will decide who will be the next governor of Anambra State should any of three leading political parties win in the election”.
The party opted for a direct primary; but at the end of the day, a candidate emerged without anything like primary taking place anywhere.
As it is, the governorship primaries that were conducted in the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that ordinarily should provide basis for the election proper are now unsettling the parties and raising serious doubts as to whether the will of the electorate would count at the end of the day, going by the desperation that has been introduced into the contest.
“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”, Moghalu said.
Andy Uba A fresh TwistIT would appear that the effort to subdue anger that arose from the purported primary conducted by the APC that paved way for Andy Uba’s candidacy have kissed the dust as one of the aggrieved aspirants in the exercise, Chief George Moghalu has asked the court to delist the APC and Uba from the race..
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