Court nullifies PDP primary election in Kaduna central, orders another in 14 days

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Court nullifies PDP primary election in Kaduna central, orders another in 14 days

The Federal High Court sitting in Kaduna has nullified the primary election conducted by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for Kaduna Central senatorial district due to irregularities.

The Court ordered the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to conduct a fresh primary election for the Senatorial candidate of the party within 14 days.

Justice Muhammed Garba Umar of the Federal High Court, Kaduna, who delivered judgement on Wednesday in the case observed that “All the complaints made by the plaintiff are substantial, likewise the decision made by INEC to conduct fresh primary that did not later hold, as a result, claims by the defendant overruled.”

The plaintiff, Usman Ibrahim, through his Counsel, Samuel Atung, (SAN), had approached the court challenging the emergence of Lawal Adamu on the ground of overvoting and prayed the court to nullify the exercise and give every aspirant equal opportunity to test their popularity.

Atung argued that his client had in his possession video and graphic evidence of over-voting by delegates whose legal consequences he noted were the voiding and nullification of the result of the primary election, adding that the PDP National Executive Council had asked the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC to conduct fresh primary only for the client to mobilized his followers to the venue of the said election in futility.

The counsel to Usman Ibrahim, Samuel Atung, (SAN) addressing newsmen shortly after the ruling, assured that the court remains the last hope of the common man.

Atung said, “After the Kaduna Central PDP Primary selected its candidate for the 2023 general election, our client wrote a petition to the party’s Appeal Panel challenging the outcome of the exercise as a result of overvoting.

“We have 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 and other relevant stakeholders of its decision to hold a repeat 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 direction of the Powers that be.

“We came to court seeking justice in that line and the judge has ruled that the party should follow the decision of the national working committee and conduct a fresh primary in two weeks.”