Ayodele Olalere
The Court of Appeal, sitting in Lagos, on Thursday, upheld the judgment of the Federal High Court, Lagos which declared Dr. John Okoro Kome as the authentic candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for the Ikeja Constituency 1 for the forthcoming election into the Lagos House of Assembly.
Justice Daniel Emeka Osiagor of a Federal High Court, Lagos, had, in September 2022 delivered a judgment recognising Kome as the authentic candidate of the party after he dragged the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, the People Democratic Party, PDP, and one Abiodun Ezekiel Olufolarinwa as 1st, 2nd and 3rd defendants respectively before the court for removing his name as the winner of the party’s primary election and the party’s candidate.
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His counsel, Don Akaegbu, had challenged INEC and PDP for submitting the name of the 3rd Defendant as the winner of the election in which he (Kome) was the actual winner.
The 3rd defendant, Olufolarinwa, had however argued that the plaintiff filed the suit 14 days after the name of the winner was published by INEC and therefore was statute barred. He further argued that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the matter. He further denied stepping down for the plaintiff.
The decision of the lower court did not go well with the 3rd defendant who promptly filed an appeal before the Court of Appeal.
In its ruling on Thursday, the three judges of the appeal court unanimously affirmed Kome as the party’s candidate thereby upholding the decision of the lower court.
The court held that the action filed before the lower court was not statute bar. The judges also determined whether the lower court was competent and had jurisdiction to entertain the 1st respondent’s case considering non service of the originating processes on the Appellant.
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The court resolved that the appellant failed to include the proof of service in the record of the court and the court can not speculate on the content of an affidavit which was not before it. It affirmed the lower court right to hear the matter.
It also ruled on whether the 1st respondent participated in the primary election. The court affirmed that the 1st respondent participated and won the election , adding it can not close its eyes to the report of INEC to the effect that the 1st respondent won the election they monitored.
The judges, therefore, ruled in favour of the 1st Respondent and thanked the lawyers for their hard work.