A federal high court
sitting in Abuja has affirmed the
election of Chief Godswill Akpabio as the duly elected Governor of Akwa Ibom
State.
Delivering judgement
in a suit brought by a gubernatorial aspirant in Akwa Ibom State, Engr Frank
Okon who had claimed that he was illegally excluded from the primaries of the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on January 15, 2011, which had returned Chief
Akpabio as the candidate of the party, Justice Abdul Kafarati held that the
Court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the matter.
Engr Okon had urged
the Court to declare him the winner of the PDP governorship primary in Akwa
Ibom and subsequently the Governor of Akwa Ibom State. He also sought the
declaration of the Court that the primary did not comply with the 2010
Electoral Act.
In his ruling,
Justice Kafarati held that since by his own admission, Engr Okon had claimed
not to have participated in the governorship primary, he did not have the locus
to challenge the said primary. Quoting from an earlier judgement delivered by
the Supreme Court, the Judge held that only candidates who participate in an
election can complain about the conduct of the primary.
According to the
Judge, “I hold that the plaintiff was not a candidate and therefore lacks the
locus to challenge the primary,” he said.
The Judge also held
that the Court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the suit since it was
purely a party affair and pre-primary issues. “The right to sponsor a candidate
is that of a party and is solely for the party to determine who its candidates
are. I hold that the plaintiff’s case has no merit and is hereby dismissed,”
the Judge said.
In his comments
after the judgement, Justice Kafarati regretted that the judgement could not be
delivered earlier because he had travelled to the United
States of America and the United
Kingdom and subsequently the Court had gone
for a recess.
Lawyers of the
parties who were present in Court commended the Judge for the judgement and
pledged to accept it in good faith.
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