Ogasabi and 9AM News Nigeria: Court Dismisses Lawsuit Against Olumide Akpata’s Governorship Nomination
Ogasabi and 9AM News Nigeria report that Judge James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a lawsuit aiming to nullify Olumide Akpata’s nomination by the Labour Party for the Edo State governorship on September 21. Judge Omotosho upheld the claims of Johnson Usman (SAN), Akpata’s attorney, ruling that the plaintiffs lacked the legal authority to file the lawsuit.
The lawsuit was filed by Anderson Asemota, Monday Mawah (a deputy governorship candidate), and Lamidi Apapa (identified as the Labour Party’s acting national chairperson). The defendants included the Labour Party, Olumide Akpata, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
According to 9AM News, Judge Omotosho ruled that the plaintiffs lacked locus standi to petition the court, as they did not attend the party’s primary on February 23, 2024, which resulted in Akpata’s nomination. He emphasized that the nomination of a candidate is an internal party matter, and the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the lawsuit.
Furthermore, Ogasabi reports that the judge declared that even if the court had jurisdiction, the lawsuit was without merit. He noted that the Court of Appeal had overturned previous rulings by a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) high court, including one that restrained the party’s leadership led by Julius Abure, countering the plaintiffs’ claims.
“Thus, any letter written by the said acting executives, or any decisions including the purported consensus primary election which produced the 1st plaintiff (Asemota) are all non-existent, void and of no effect whatsoever.
“It is a trite principle of law that you cannot put something on nothing and expect same to stand.
“The entire foundation upon which the plaintiffs claim rests has been thoroughly demolished by the decision of the Court of Appeal.
“The argument that the decision of the high court of the FCT was valid as at when the primary election was conducted may be true to some extent especially if the Court of Appeal had yet to hand down its judgment.
“The judgment, however, destroys this argument and ensures that the first plaintiff for all intents and purposes cannot be deemed to be a candidate who emerged from a valid primary election.
“Thus the 1st plaintiff cannot claim that his name should be accepted by the ist defendant as candidate of the 3rd defendant for the governorship elections in Edo state in 2024,”
Justice Omotosho said
The plaintiffs had requested the court to declare Asemota the winner of the Edo Labour Party Governorship Primary Election, asserting that Asemota was the unanimous choice and victor of the primary held on February 22 by the committee for primary elections led by Apapa and organized by the party’s national working committee (NWC).
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