The appellate court also set aside the Federal High Court’s decision which voided the Colonel Augustine Akobundo-led caretaker/ad-hoc committee established by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to run the affairs of its Anambra chapter and restrained the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) accepting the list candidates that emanated from the primaries conducted by the caretaker committee.
The court, in two unanimous judgments, upheld the two appeals filed by the PDP and a chieftain of the party, Chukwudi Okasia against the December 5, 2014 judgments by Justice Evoh Chukwu of the Federal High Court, Abuja. The appeals were marked: CA/A/737/2014 and CA/A/73a/2014.
By the judgments on friday, all the candidates produced in the primaries held by the Oguebego-led Exco of the Anambra PDP would no longer be acceptable to INEC until the Supreme Court decides otherwise.
The Court of Appeal having set aside both judgments by the lower court, struck out the suits on which the judgments were given on the ground that the Federal High Court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the suit which bordered on the party’s internal affairs.
The appellate court, which queried the locus standi of Oguebego and Chucks Okoye, who claimedbe Chairman and Secretary of the Anambra chapter of the PDP, held that by virtue of a March 17, 2012 judgment by Justice Kekemeke of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Oguebego and Okoye were not members of the party’s Exco because the judgment annulled the election from which they purportedly emerged.
The Court of Appeal further held that the suits on which the Justice Chukwu’s judgments were based were not only an abuse of court process; they were wrongly commenced via originating summons. The court held that it ought to have been commenced with writ of summons as there were needs for parties to call witnesses.
The court held that the power to conduct primaries resides solely with the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party and not a state Exco. It declared as a miscarriage of justice, Justice Chukwu’s declaration that it was the list of candidates produced by the Oguebego-Exco that must be acceptable to INEC, having earlier held that he would not decide the leadership of the party.
The court held that both appeals succeed, they are allowed. It proceeded to set aside both judgments by Justice Chukwu. It proceeded to strike out the suits on which the Federal High Court judgments were based.
By this judgement, the new Senatorial candidates are Hon Mrs Uche Ekwunife for Anambra Central Senatorial Zone, Princess Stella Adaeze Oduah for Anambra North and Dr Andy Uba for Anambra South. This development also favoured the list of candidates submitted by PDP for House of Representatives and State House of Assembly.
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