A Federal High Court in Abuja has sacked a lawmaker
representing Ibaji constituency in the Kogi State House of Assembly, Atule
Egbunu.
Egbunu who was declared winner of a
bye-election on account of his 8, 515 votes was removed as a lawmaker on the
ground that he was unlawfully nominated by the All Progressive Congress (APC).
Justice Inyang Ekwo, while delivering judgment in a suit
instituted by an APC chieftain, Joseph Enemona against APC and four others,
declared Daniel Enefola of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the lawmaker
for Ibaji constituency, having come second with 4, 564 votes in the December 5,
2020 state election.
Enemona, a state House of Assembly aspirant, on the platform
of the APC had dragged the party before the Federal High Court, challenging the
legality of the September 3, 2020 primary election claimed to have been conducted
by his party.
His grouse, among others, was that the party unlawfully
excluded six other aspirants from the primary election and also did not allow
delegates to vote at the poll.
Plaintiff further asserted that while the law stipulated
that the primary election be conducted at the party secretariat in Onyedega,
the APC officials allegedly conducted a purported primary election in a Mall.
He further contended that the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) was not given 21 days notice before the purported primary
election as mandatorily required by Section 85 of Electoral Act, 2010.
Plaintiff further hinged his case on the ground that while
the APC guidelines stipulated direct primary election, the APC officials
manipulated the guidelines and purportedly used indirect system to pick the
purported candidate.
He therefore demanded that the purported nomination of
Egbunu be voided and another primary election be conducted.
However, Justice Ekwo, after reviewing submissions by
parties in the matter, agreed that the APC did not conduct a primary election
known to law.
The Judge held that while seven aspirants were to
participate in the primary election, the party unlawfully maneuvered the system
and made the participation for a single candidate.
The Court also held that the APC ran foul of the law by
conducting the purported primary election outside the party secretariat as
required by law.
The Court also faulted the purported substitution done
between Matthew Oguche and Atule Egbunu on the ground that Oguche was not one
of the legitimate aspirants before the election.
Justice Ekwo, therefore, declared the purported APC primary
election as illegal, unlawful, unconstitutional, null and void and subsequently
sent it aside.
Justice Ekwo said that since the time for primary and
nomination of candidates had lapsed, the candidate of the party which came
second in the December 5, 2020 bye-election should be inaugurated as the
lawmaker for Ibaji constituency.
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