Voter Asks Court to Disqualify Soludo, Uba, Ozigbo, Ubah from Anambra Election

Acting on his constitutional right, a voter in Anambra State, Ifeanyichukwu Okonkwo has instituted court processes to stop candidates of the leading political parties from participating in the Anambra governorship contest, writes Nseobong Okon-Ekong

A voter, Mr. Ifeanyichukwu Okonkwo, has approached the Federal High Court, Awka, for an order disqualifying four candidates and their parties from the November 6, Anambra State governorship election.

Defendants in the suit No FHC/AWK/CS/71/2021, which comes up today (October 26, 2021) include, All Progressives Congress (APC); Senator Andy Uba; All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA); Prof. Chukwuma Soludo; Peoples Democratic Party (PDP); Mr. Valentine Ozigbo; Young Peoples Party (YPP); Senator Ifeanyi Ubah; Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Anambra State; Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The plaintiff, who attested that he is a politician, democracy activist and duly registered by the 10th defendant as a voter for the November 6 election, declared that he is aggrieved by the “flagrant violations of the 2010 Electoral Act (as amended) and the Nigerian constitution by the defendants.”

In his statement of claim, the plaintiff further averred that his grievances against the defendants “touches on the information given by the defendants and their prospective flag bearers for the November 6 gubernatorial poll, published on August 6, 2021.”

Other claims by the plaintiff include: “It is constitutionally decreed that other than the 1st (APC), 3rd (APGA), 5th (PDP) and 7th (YPP) defendants, who are political parties, no association shall canvass for votes for any candidate at any election or contribute to the funds of any political party or to the election expenses of any candidate at the November 6 governorship election in Anambra State.

“That the suit of the plaintiff against the defendants relates to nominations and sponsorships of candidates for the November 6 governorship election in Anambra State, and more so on veryconcrete and reasonable grounds, which the plaintiff verily believe that some of the information supplied to the 9th and 10th defendants by both the defendants and their respective candidates for the election are manifestly false, misleading and in flagrant violation of their respective party guidelines in the governorship primaries, the Electoral Act and Nigeria’s constitution.”

The plaintiff, Okonkwo, stated that being aware that the constitution empowers any person, who has reasonable ground to believe that any information given by a political party or its candidate like the defendants submitted to the 10th defendant is false, to file a suit at the Federal High Court or a High Court against such person/party and seek a declaration that such information is not true.

While stressing that the sanction for such false facts is disqualification of the candidate/political party, Okonkwo prayed the court to grant him the following reliefs: “*An order disqualifying the 2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th defendants, the candidates of the 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th defendants from contesting the November 6 election pursuant to subsection (6) of Section 31 of the 2010 Electoral Act as amended.

“* And order of mandatory injunction mandating/directing the INEC to delist the defendants and barring them from presentment and participation in the November 6 election.

“*An order of declaration that the information contained in the affidavit presented by 2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th defendants to INEC Form CF001 and other details on the nomination is false and misrepresentation of facts about their personal particulars or information of the candidates.

“*An order pursuant to section 31(6) of the 2010 Electoral Act, as amended, disqualifying the 2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th defendants as candidates from contesting the November 6, Anambra State governorship election.”

Regarding the 1st respondent, the plaintiff averred that since “the appointment of the Acting chairman and members of the caretaker committee by APC National Working Committee, it is a well known fact that the appointing body (APC NWC), never met again to extend the tenure of the Caretaker Committee,” contending that such acts carried out by such body has not been determined by any curt of law.

He noted that the APC acting national chairman is a tenured public officer, who doubles as well in a tenure of six months, which was further extended for another six months, “and is aware that as a state governor, shall not during his current period in office as governor hold any other executive office, or paid employment in any capacity whatsoever sit at the helm of affairs of APC Anambra State governorship primary election that purportedly took place on June 26, 2021.”

Citing section 87(1) of the 2010 Electoral Act, the plaintiff stressed that the statute stipulates that candidates of political parties at an election can only be nominated at elective democratic process, adding that the law cast a duty upon the 9th and 10th defendants to monitor and keep record of the activities of political parties.

He therefore referenced the INEC report which stated that APC did not hold governorship primary in Anambra State on June 26, 2021, adding, “INEC under the statute is duty bound, where APC or a political party fails to comply with the provisions of the Electoral Act in the conduct of its primaries, its candidate for election shall not be included in the election for the particular position.”

In the case of APGA and Soludo, the plaintiff, apart from citing the INEC report that the party did not comply with the 21 days notice to the commission before the conduct of its primary, stressed that the party’s candidate did not resign or take a leave of absence from his appointment into the Presidential Economic Advisory Committee (PEAC).

For PDP, the plaintiff averred that the party used delegate list made on June 25, 2021 for the party’s governorship primary held on June 26, 2021, pointing out that the said list was submitted to INEC after June 25, 2021 in contravention of the provisions of the Electoral Act 2010 as amended.

He further alleged that the PDP candidate, Mr. Valentine Ozigbo, was presented to the 10th defendant after July 30, 2021, which was the deadline for the withdrawal or substitution of candidates by parties.

The plaintiff accused YPP of presenting the 8th defendant (Senator Ifeanyi Ubah) as its candidate not minding that as at July 1, 2021, when Ubah presented himself to be voted for as the governorship candidate, he was still in the public office of the Federal Government.

“That Senator Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah is not representing himself for re-election of the membership of the Nigeria Senate, but he sought an executive higher statutory tenured office of the governorship of Anambra State

“That a member of the National Assembly aspiring to contest in a party primary election for the governorship, a statutory tenured office as the membership of the National or State Assemblies, which is constructively and constitutionally different from standing for re-election to the tenured positions in both the National and State Assemblies, is mandatorily required to either resign, withdraw or retire from such parliamentary positions, or take leave of absence without pay at least 30 days before standing for the party governorship primary,” Okonkwo declared.