Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed the suit filed to invalidate the nomination of Olumide Akpata as the Labour Party candidate for the September 21 gubernatorial polls in Edo State.
In a recent decision, Justice Omotosho affirmed the position taken by Akpata’s legal counsel, Johnson Usman (SAN), who argued that the plaintiffs did not possess the legal standing to initiate the lawsuit.
The lawsuit was initiated by Anderson Asemota, Monday Mawah, a candidate for deputy governorship, and Lamidi Apapa, who was serving as the acting national chairman of the Labour Party at the time.
The defendants in the case were the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Olumide Akpata, and the Labour Party itself.
Justice Omotosho determined that the plaintiffs had no legal right to approach the court, as they had not participated in the February 23, 2024, primary election from which Akpata was selected as the Labour Party’s candidate.
Furthermore, the judge concluded that the issue at hand pertained to the nomination of a candidate, which falls within the purview of a political party’s internal affairs.
He further asserted that it is the responsibility of the party to decide on its candidate, and as such, the court lacked the jurisdiction to adjudicate on the matter.
Moreover, Justice Omotosho opined that even if the court were to exercise its jurisdiction, the merits of the case needed to be revised.
He also pointed out that, contrary to the plaintiffs’ assertions, the Court of Appeal had previously nullified orders issued by the Federal High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), including an order that restrained the party’s leadership led by Julius Abure.
The judge said, “This means that the third plaintiff (Apapa) and those who were in acting capacity with him immediately had all their decisions nullified and non-existent.
“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 the same to stand.
“The entire foundation upon which the plaintiff’s 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 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 the ist defendant should accept his name as candidate of the 3rd defendant for the governorship elections in Edo state in 2024.”
The plaintiffs had submitted a petition to the court, requesting that it issue orders to various entities, including the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to officially announce Asemota as the victor of the Edo Labour Party Governorship Primary Election.
This was in light of Asemota’s position as the consensus candidate and the winner of the primary election held on February 22, which was organized by the primary election committee established by the party’s national working committee (NWC) under the leadership of Apapa.
