By Sani Idris
The Federal High Court in Kaduna, on Wednesday nullified the primary election conducted by the PDP for Kaduna Central Senatorial District due to irregularities.
Delivering the judgment, Justice Muhammed Umar ordered the PDP to conduct fresh primary within 14 days.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalled that one of the aspirants
for the senatorial position, Usman Ibrahim, approached the court through his counsel, Samuel Atung, challenging the emergence of Mr. Lawal Adamu.
The plaintiff, Ibrahim, challenged the defendant’s election on the ground of over voting and prayed the court to nullify the exercise and give every aspirant equal opportunity to test their popularity.
Justice Umar in his judgment, said all the complaints made by the plantiff (Usman Ibrahim) were substantial, likewise the decision made by INEC to conduct fresh primary that did not later hold as a result of claims by the defendant was overruled.
Atung, counsel to the complainant (lbrahim), during an interaction with
newsmen shortly after the judgment, said the court remained the last hope of the common man.
He said: “After the Kaduna Central PDP
primary to select its candidate for the 2023 general elections, our client wrote a petition to the party’s Appeal Panel challenging the outcome of the exercise due to over voting.
“We have a video evidence to that effect and the committee considered our appeal and forwarded its recommendation to the Central Working Committee (CWC) which in its wisdom, called for a repeat of the primary election.
“The PDP wrote INEC, intimated the Nigeria Police, Civil Defence Corps and other relevant stakeholders of its decision to repeat the primary for Kaduna Central Senatorial Zone, which was a welcome development.
“Unfortunately on the appointed date, our
client, after mobilizing his supporters to the venue of the repeat primary, only to be told that the exercise would no longer hold due to the directives of the powers that be.
“We came to court seeking for justice in that line and the judge has ruled that the party should follow the decision of the National Working Committee and conduct fresh one in two weeks,” Atung said.
(NAN)
