Akpabio to know fate as governor, as Court of Appeal reserves judgment indefinitely in Akwa Ibom guber tussle Posted on October 23, 2013 by Editor in Chief The Court of Appeal, Abuja, on Tuesday reserved judgment in an appeal case filed against the nomination of Gov. Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom as PDP governorship candidate in the 2011 election. Justice J.T Tur reserved the judgment indefinitely after counsel to parties adopted their written addresses. Mr Frank Okon, also a PDP aspirant for the position, is challenging the decision of Justice Abdul Kafarati to uphold the nomination of the governor. The PDP, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the committee that conducted the primaries are the other respondents in the matter. Adopting his address, Mr Lasun Sanusi (SAN), counsel to Okon, argued that the PDP National Working Committee (NWC) technically excluded the appellant from the primaries. He explained that in the attempt to stop his client, the party breached the provisions of the party guidelines. Sanusi further said that the provisions of the Electoral Act as well as the party’s constitution were violated in a view to keep Okon out of the contest. He submitted that his client had the “locus standi’’ to challenge the process, adding that “it was both a sham and fraudulent’’. “We pray the court to hold that the appellant has the right to seek redress in the court in view of the clear injustice done to him. “In interpreting Section 87(9) of the Electoral Act, we do urge the court to rule in the appellant’s favour because it is the right thing to do,’’ he said. The above provision of the Electoral Act defines the status of who can enjoy the right to bring an action to challenge a misdemeanour of a political party resulting from an election. According to Sanusi, it is in our evidence that the name of the appellant is duly captured in the ballot paper which shows that he participated in the election. At the Federal High Court, Kafarati, held that it did not consider the appellant as a candidate of the party in the re-run primary election held in the state on Jan. 15, 2011. The appellant had maintained that he was the candidate of the PDP in the election, having been screened and cleared to run in the election. Okon is praying the court to declare him the duly elected governor of Akwa Ibom since he was screened and cleared to take part in the poll. He also argued that Akpabio’s name was signed and returned to INEC by the former National Chairman of PDP, Dr. Okwezeli Nwodo, on Jan. 16, 2012. Okon submitted that action was belated as the court had removed the first respondent (Akpabio) from office on Jan. 12, 2012. Meanwhile, Chief Paul Osoro (SAN), counsel to Akpabio, prayed the court to discountenance all the submissions made by the counsel to the appellant. Usoro submitted that “what is left before the court is simply to interpret Section 87(9) of the Electoral Act in determining whether the appellant has locus or not. “The second aspect is whether the court has the jurisdiction to determine the subject matter before it. “It is our sincere prayer that the appeal be dismissed on grounds of incompetence.’’ Chief Sola Oke, counsel to PDP, aligned himself to Osoro’s argument and prayed the court to dismiss the appeal.
Posted on: Wed, 23 Oct 2013 06:11:38 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015