NewsCourt Reserves Ruling in Suit Against APC, INEC, Alia

Court Reserves Ruling in Suit Against APC, INEC, Alia

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A Federal High Court sitting in Makurdi, Benue State and presided over by Justice Abdul Dogo has reserved judgement in a suit filed by Engr Barnabas Gemade against the All Progressives Congres, Rev Fr Hyacinth Alia and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), challenging the party’s governorship primary election in Benue State.

Justice Dogo took the decision after listening to arguments by all the counsels representing various clients, saying a date will be communicated to parties in due course.

When the case came up for hearing, counsel to Chief Gemade, Jubril Okutepa, SAN, prayed the court to grant all the reliefs sought by his client and nullify what he referred to as the purported APC primary which produced Fr Hyacinth Alia as the party’s governorship candidate.

According to him, APC did not follow the guidelines provided in the Electoral Act and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for nomination of candidates for the 2023 general election.

Okutekpa explained that the APC primary elections held on May 27 and June 9, with Sections 77 and 84 of the Electoral Act, 2022 INEC Guidelines and the Constitution. He urged the court to order for fresh primary elections to enable all aspirants to participate.

He argued that the plaintiff filed the suit within the stipulated time on June 10, 2022, a day after the purported APC primary election result was announced, contrary to the submission by the APC and Alia’s Counsels that the suit was filed out of time.

In their submissions, counsels for APC, Matthew Bukar, SAN and that of Fr Alia, Usman Sule, SAN, urged the court to dismiss the suit filed by Gemade against their clients with heavy costs on ground that APC conducted its primaries in Benue State in line with party guidelines and the Electoral Act.

Bukar submitted that the plaintiff filed the suit out of time on June 10, 2022, well after the 14 days which the law allowed the petition to be brought to a court of law after the conduct of the election.

Also in the same court, one of the governorship aspirants who filed a case against APC, Prof Terhemba Shija withdrew his second suit challenging the conduct of the APC primaries in Benue State.

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