- Orders INEC to recognise Mohammed Jega As Kebbi Reps Candidate
The former Governor of Akwa Ibom State and immediate past Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, is the authentic All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for the Akwa Ibom North-West Senatorial District in the February 25 National Assembly election, the Supreme Court has so declared
In a unanimous judgment delivered on Friday by Justice Ibrahim Saulawa, the apex Court returned Akpabio as the candidate in the forthcoming polls shortly after it set aside the ruling by the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, that barred him from participating in the said election.
The apex Court ruled that the lower court erred in law when it assumed jurisdiction in the internal matters of a political party. Therefore, it set aside the Court of Appeal ruling while upholding the judgment of Justice Donatus Okorowo, which recognised Akpabio as lawfully nominated by his party.
Similarly, the Supreme Court laid to rest the long-drawn legal battle on the authenticity of the candidate for Jega-Aliero-Gwandu Federal Constituency of Kebbi State in the forthcoming general election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The Apex Court voided and dismissed the nomination of one Kabir Labbo Jega, whose name was submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) by the APC as its candidate.
In a judgment prepared by Justice Uwani Musa Abba-Aji, the apex Court dismissed the suit instituted by the party to support the nomination of the unlawful candidate, even as it ordered APC and INEC to restore and recognise one Mohammed Umar Jega as the lawful and authentic candidate for the election.
Umar Jega’s nomination was upheld by the court on the ground that he emerged winner of the May 27, 2022, primary election of the party conducted in accordance with guidelines set by the APC National Working Committee (NWC).
The court threw out the purported nomination and submission of the name of Labbo Jega on the ground that he emerged the winner from an unlawful primary election conducted by the Party’s State Working Committee (SWC).
Furthermore, the court maintained that by the provisions of the law, only the NWC of political parties is empowered to conduct primary elections for the purpose of nominating candidates for elections.
However, in affirming the Court of Appeal judgment earlier delivered against APC in favour of Mohammed Umar Jega, the Supreme Court did not award any cost against the APC.
