House: Aspirant Sues INEC, PDP over Alleged Imposition

Wale Igbintade

The crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State has taken a new dimension as an aspirant on the party’s platform, Abdul Kareem Shittu, has dragged the party and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) before the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos over alleged imposition.

In the suit filed before Justice Daniel Osiagor, the Plaintiff, Shittu, who aspires to represent Ikorodu in Federal House of Representatives, also joined Mr. Awesu AbdulAzeez  as respondent in the suit.

The plaintiff is praying the court for an order restraining INEC from accepting or continuing to retain the name of the third respondent, (Awesu AbdulAzeez) as the PDP’s candidate for Ikorodu Federal Constituency in its database.

Shittu is also praying the court to declare that the nomination of Awesu AbdulAzeez as the PDP candidate was not in line with the party’s constitution and its guidelines for primary
election.

He also urged the court to declare that the PDP is bound to nominate him and submit his name to INEC as its  candidate, having won the highest votes cast during the party’s primary election conducted on May 24.

The suit was supported with a 28-paragraphs affidavit, detailing how the infraction was allegedly committed by the PDP against him and the party’s guidelines for primary election.

In the affidavit, Shittu averred that he participated in the primary election conducted by the PDP to elect its candidate for the House of Representatives in Ikorodu on May 24, 2022, and got the highest number of votes cast.

He averred that having won the primary election, his name was announced in the presence of all the party’s members who witnessed and participated in the election and his name was entered into the official result slip of the party.

Shittu stated the party later cancelled the primary election due to a petition written by the third respondent, and the party rescheduled the election following which it was held on June 6.

He averred that at the rescheduled primary election in which he and Awesu AbdulAzeez participated, both of them got the same number of votes and based on that and in line with the party’s guidelines for primary election to nominate its candidate, there should be a re-run.

He added that the party didn’t conduct any re-run  election but went ahead to nominate the third respondent as its candidate to INEC.

Justice Daniel Osiagor has fixed August 5, for further hearing of a suit.