By Two Anambra State High Courts, in separate judgements, have directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to publish the names of two governorship candidates for the November 6 election without further delay.
The candidates are Senator Ugochukwu Uba of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Prof Chukwuma Soludo for the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).
Justice Obiora Nwabunike, who presided over the case involving Uba, Valentine Ozigbo, and the PDP, said the party erred by employing its so-called “super delegates” without vacating a pending order by an Abuja court.
According to the judge, based on the evidence before the court and testimony from involved matters, he ruled that Ugochukwu Uba is the duly elected candidate of PDP.
“It’s not for nothing that court judges are called My Lords. When a court makes a pronouncement, it must be obeyed. No matter how foolish or ugly, it must be obeyed,” he said.
“So, it was wrong for the PDP to go ahead to conduct the primary election at the Dora Akunyili Women’s Development Centre that produced Valentine Ozigbo, with what they called super delegates against a live judgment of a court, without overturning the judgement.
“That action cannot be vitiated or mitigated by the argument adduced by defence counsel that party primaries are internal affairs of political parties.
“I order that Ugochukwu Uba’s name should be enlisted by the INEC without further delay and the defendants should pay a cost of N10million to the applicant.”
In the other case involving APGA, Justice C.C. Okaa ordered the reinstatement of Prof Soludo as the party’s candidate and asked INEC to publish his name immediately.
The Court also ordered INEC to remove the already-published name of Chukwuma Umeoji, ordering him to stop parading himself as the candidate of APGA.
Justice Okaa reaffirmed Victor Ike Oye as the indisputable National Chairman of APGA and ordered Edozie Njoku and Jude Okeke to stop parading themselves as national chairmen of APGA.
The Jude Okeke-led APGA national executive, on the other hand, has rejected the order to reinstate Soludo as the party’s candidate.
Ikechukwu Chukwunyere, the faction’s National Publicity Secretary, told reporters at a press conference in Abuja that a High Court order in Jigawa State was still in effect.
He said: “The judgement from Awka cannot vacate the judgement from Jigawa. They are courts of coordinate jurisdiction.
“They cannot change the position of INEC with it. Hopefully, this matter will be sorted out soon and peace will return to APGA.”
