ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- A Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, has nullified all primary elections conducted by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the State.
This is following an unlawful exclusion of some party members as delegates to the primaries, held months ago, ahead of the 2023 general elections.
Justice E A Obile made the declaration in a judgement he delivered on Tuesday over a case instituted by one George Orlu and four others as Plaintiffs against Rivers APC.
The case instituted by them requested the nullification of the primaries of APC in Rivers for alleged exclusion in the process.
The judge agreed with the Plaintiffs that they were wrongly excluded in the elections to participate in the party primaries, ruling the primaries nullified.
Justice Obile also ruled that all those elected in the primaries could not be recognized as candidates for the coming elections.
Dissatisfied with the judgement, the Spokesman to Rivers APC, Darlington Nwauju, maintains that nothing will stop the party elections in the state.
He said: “We believe the appellate court shall treat the matter dispassionately and deliver justice because this is not an action against the primaries of our party but an attempt at challenging the composition of our delegates list.
“We assure River people that the attempt to rehash the 2019 episode in Rivers is already dead on arrival. Nothing will stop APC Rivers from being on the ballot in 2023.
“The supreme court has decided on a plethora of cases affirming that political parties are their own operating authorities and can regulate own internal affairs.
“The subject matter for which Justice Obile granted reliefs of the Plaintiffs is entire our internal affairs, therefore it is a travesty of justice as far as we are concerned.”