Court annuls PDP governorship primary poll in Ogun, orders fresh exercise in 14 days
Federal High Court, sitting in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Tuesday, annulled the governorship primary election conducted by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), with hours to the commencement of the electioneering campaign ahead of the 2023 General Elections in the country.
Presiding judge, Justice O.O Oguntoyinbo, in his ruling also ordered the party to conduct a fresh primary within the next 14 days.
The court also barred the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from recognising Hon. Ladi Adebutu as the governorship candidate of the PDP in the state.
PDP had, on May 25, this year, conducted the primary which supposedly produced Adebutu as the governorship candidate of the party.
However, three aggrieved members of the party, Taiwo Olabode Idris, Kehinde Akala and Alhaji Ayinde Monsuri, subsequently dragged the party, Adebutu and INEC to court to challenge the authenticity of the delegates’ list used for the conduct of the primary.
They contended that the persons on the delegates’ list used by the PDP electoral panel for the primary were not democratically elected at the ward, local government and state congresses of the party, submitting that the panel “cannot unilaterally or arbitrarily impose” the list on the party for the primary exercise.
The plaintiffs, in their originating summons, had prayed the court, among others, to nullify or set aside the state congress/indirect primary election, held by the 1st defendant (PDP) on May 25, 2022 “for the purpose of choosing the candidate which the 1st Defendant intends to nominate/sponsor at the 2023 Governorship election in Ogun State based on the list of delegates who were not democratically elected at the ward congress.”
They also sought for an order directing the 2nd Defendant (INEC) “to disregard and/or refrain from giving effect to the results of the alleged 1st Defendant’s indirect primary election held on the 25th of May, 2022 based on the list of ad-hoc delegates who were not elected at the ward congresses constituted by the 1st Defendant for that purpose.”
Counsel to the plaintiffs, Thaddeus Idenyi, while reacting to the judgement, said the court nullified the election “because it was conducted using a list of adhoc delegates who were not elected.”
“The implication of the judgement is obvious, the PDP will have to put their hats together and then conduct a fresh primary as ordered by the court.
“This time around, the court was specific that they have to use the list that has been certified by INEC because after the primary, those lists were submitted to INEC as parts of its report of covering those ward congresses held, so the court has now said that is the list which must be considered in the conduct of the fresh primaries, so the PDP had to just put their house together and use those lists to conduct a fresh primary,” Idenyi added.
