Two human rights lawyers have allegedly dragged to mud the judgement of Federal High Court, Kano nullifying the candidature of Alex Otti, Abia State Governor-elect and other Labour Party candidates.
The Court presided over by Justice M N Yunusa, had also nullified the candidature of Labour Party (LP) members in Abia and Kano States.
The court ruled that their emergence was not in compliance with the provisions of the 2022 Electoral Act.
Reacting to the judgement, Inibehe Effiong, human rights lawyer wrote ‘‘Originating Summons in the Kano case was filed on May 11. Judgement delivered May 18. Under the Federal High (Pre-Election) Practice Direction, 2022, a Respondent has 7 days to enter appearance and 10 days to file a counter affidavit. When were LP and INEC served the Summons?
In his Twitter handle, Effiong tweeted ‘‘As it stands, the judgment delivered today by Hon. Justice Yunusa cannot stop the swearing-in of Alex Otti. The judge did not restrain Abia Chief Judge from swearing him in. Conversely, the judge declined the prayer that sought to order INEC to declare the 1st runner-up winner.’’
According to him, ‘‘The court refused to grant relief 10 sought in the Summons to compel INEC to declare all 1st runner-up in Abia as winners, and issue them with Certificates of Return. The judge said Federal High Court, Kano lacked jurisdiction over candidates not before it.
‘‘The judgment of the Federal High Court in Kano cannot stand in law. The issue of submission of a party’s membership register to INEC cannot be the basis for disqualification of candidates. It cannot be the basis for nullifying primaries across the country. It is also belated.
‘‘The court asked affected candidates in Abia State to approach the appropriate Division of theFederal High Court for redress (Federal High Court, Abia). The same court in another breath declared primaries in Abia as void and votes cast for LP in Abia as wasted votes.
He queried ‘‘Isn’t this a clear contradiction? If there’s no territorial jurisdiction for the court to grant relief 10, on what basis did the court void the Abia primaries? It is only the Judiciary that will preserve its dignity and respectability. We should we mindful of public perception.’’
‘‘The judge has not disclaimed the judgment in circulation. News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) is trying to mislead media houses on the issue. No judge will make a public statement on the matter in court. The judge refused the consequential prayer for INEC to declare the 1st runner-up.
However, Hon. Justice Yunusa actually voided the primaries in Abia and declared the votes for LP as wasted votes,’’ he added.
Reacting too to the judgement, another human rights activist, Festus Ogun, in a tweet via his Twitter handle, branded the court’s judgement as too late, adding that Otti and other LP candidates have been duly elected.
“Too late. They have been duly elected,” Ogun tweeted.
“This judgement cannot affect their emergence in any way and cannot be a ground to challenge their emergence at the Tribunal.”
