A vacation judge, Justice Abdul Nicodemus Awulu, sitting at the High Court of Justice headquarters, Lokoja, Kogi State, has declined the ex-parte application filed by Mustapha Mona Audu to stop the governorship primary election of the All Progressives Congress (APC) holding Thursday.
Mustapha Audu, one of the late Prince Abubakar Audu’s sons ,who is also an aspirant on the platform of APC, had approached the court for unlawful exclusion to participate in the primary.
He had filed an ex-perte application before the Vacation Judge pursuant to section 6(6)a and (b) of the 1999 constitution of Nigeria as amended and order 11 rule 7, sub 1 & 2 of Kogi State (Civil Procedure) 5 Rules 2006.He sought among others, an interim order restraining the defendants from conducting the Kogi State’s governorship primary election today, pending the determination of motion on notice before the court.
He also sought an interim order to restrain the defendants from organising any activities connected to the conduct of the election and any other order that the court may deem necessary to make in the circumstance .
Defendants in the suit are Adams Oshiomhole, the National Chairman of APC; the Chairman of the APC Governorship Primary Election; the Chairman of the APC Governorship Primary Election Appeal Committee and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
He also sought an interim order to restrain the defendants from organising any activities connected to the conduct of the election and any other order that the court may deem necessary to make in the circumstance .
Defendants in the suit are Adams Oshiomhole, the National Chairman of APC; the Chairman of the APC Governorship Primary Election; the Chairman of the APC Governorship Primary Election Appeal Committee and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
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The grounds on which the applicant based his request in the originating summons with suit no HCL/34/2019 and dated 28th August, 2019 include, among others, that the exclusion of his name from the governorship aspirants in the list of governorship aspirants of the APC was a breach of his right and that the conduct of the screening exercise by the party was in breach of the party’s constitution.
The grounds on which the applicant based his request in the originating summons with suit no HCL/34/2019 and dated 28th August, 2019 include, among others, that the exclusion of his name from the governorship aspirants in the list of governorship aspirants of the APC was a breach of his right and that the conduct of the screening exercise by the party was in breach of the party’s constitution.
He, therefore, wanted the court to direct that he be included as one of the aspirants contesting the primary election and an order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendants from conducting the primary without including his name.
He said he will suffer irreparable loss if the defendants were not restrained from conducting the primary election. The motion was supported by a fifteen paragraph affidavit deposed to by the applicant with another affidavit of urgency of seven paragraphs.Ruling on the matter today, Justice Awulu, after listening to counsel to the applicant, D. D. Dugbanya Esq., declined to stop the conduct of the primary election. Dugbanya had relied on the affidavits and adopted the written address filed along with the motion.
Justice Awulu stated in his ruling: “I have perused the application vis-à-vis the affidavits in support and of urgency along with the written address of counsel. I have refrained from raising the issue of jurisdiction suo moto at this stage to prevent an entry into the arena. Let me save that until the motion on notice.
“However, the issue to resolve is whether a court can restrain by an order of injunction the holding of a primary election by a political party. This is my view and I so hold that the holding or conducting primary election by a political party cannot be stopped by an order of injunction.”
Justice Awulu stated in his ruling: “I have perused the application vis-à-vis the affidavits in support and of urgency along with the written address of counsel. I have refrained from raising the issue of jurisdiction suo moto at this stage to prevent an entry into the arena. Let me save that until the motion on notice.
“However, the issue to resolve is whether a court can restrain by an order of injunction the holding of a primary election by a political party. This is my view and I so hold that the holding or conducting primary election by a political party cannot be stopped by an order of injunction.”
In addition, the judge supported this position with a decision of the Court of Appeal where it was held that courts have no power to grant orders of injunction restraining the conduct of party primaries.
He said: “Also, Section 87(10) of the Electoral Act, 2010, as amended, provides as follows ‘nothing in this section shall empower the courts to stop the holding of primaries or general election or the processes thereof under this Act pending the determination of a suit‘
Justice Awulu concluded: “Based on the law, and even without determining the issue of jurisdiction yet, I hold that the orders of interim injunction sought in so far as these are to prevent the governorship primary election of second defendant is refused and hereby dismissed.”
A member of the House of Representatives representing Bassa/Dekina Federal Constituency, Hassan Abdullahi Baiwa, reportedly walked out of the venue of the primary.
Baiwa, who was the former deputy speaker of the state House of Assembly, while speaking in a telephone interview with journalists said he left the venue following harassment by the security agents for complaining about some irregularities inherent in the electoral process.
He lamented that he discovered that almost every delegate has turned to illiterate hence the Yahaya Bello’s agents were writing for them, stressing that although he laid a compliant to the chairman of the electoral committee but could not help the situation .
Another aspirant, who was earlier denied clearance but was later allowed to participate in the primary, Barrister Babatunde Irukera described the exercise as falling short of acceptable norms.
Irukera however debunked the insinuation that he refused to show up at the venue of the primary.