The Court of Appeal in Abuja has declared that the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has no governorship candidate for the 2023 election in Abia State.
The court gave the ruling on Wednesday, according to a report by Daily Trust.
Background
The party held a governorship primary on 29 May in Abia State, where the Founder and Chancellor of Gregory University, Uturu, Greg Ibe, emerged as the candidate of the party for the 2023 general elections in the state.
Mr Ibe polled 283 votes to defeat two other contestants — Etigwe Uwa and Chikwe Udensi — who scored 148 and 36 votes respectively.
Aggrieved, Mr Udensi, one of the aspirants, filed a suit in a Federal High Court, Abuja, challenging the outcome of the primary.
He prayed the court to declare him the winner of the party’s primary or alternatively order the conduct of a fresh primary.
In her judgment, on 1 December, the judge, Binta Nyako, nullified the primary that produced Mr Ibe.
Mrs Nyako held that from evidence and testimonies of witnesses, the 29 May governorship primary of the party was “flawed and marred by irregularities.”
The judge, consequently, ordered the party to conduct a fresh primary in the state within 14 days from the date of the judgement.
The party, however, failed to conduct the primary within the period.
APGA had faulted the court judgment nullifying the party’s governorship primary in the state with its National Chairman, Victor Oye, saying the party would appeal the ruling.
Court of Appeal ruling
The Court of Appeal in Abuja, on Wednesday, upheld the judgment of the Federal High Court in Abuja which nullified the 29 May governorship primary of the APGA in the state.
In a unanimous verdict of a three-member panel of justices read by Stephen Adah, one of the justices, the court ruled that APGA’s failure to conduct a valid primary within the time set by law denied it the opportunity to participate in the elections.
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