BEVERLY HILLS, March 18, (THEWILL) – The Federal High Court Asaba, presided over by Justice Toyin Adegoke, Monday sacked the Prophet Jones Erue-led executive of the party.
The court also declared as void the participation of Great Ogboru as the governorship candidate of the party for the 2019 election as well as the candidacy of Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, Emmanuel Uduaghan and others presented by the faction and upheld by APC’s national headquarters.
The court similarly upheld the full template of the Chief Cyril Ogodo faction’s candidates.
Prof Pat Utomi, Olorogun Otega Emerhor, Olorogun Ima Rume Niboro and others were upheld as the authentic candidates of the party in the just concluded elections.
By interpretation, Olorogun Emerhor and Niboro are senator-elect and representative-elect, since the party won those seats in the Central Districts.
Delivering judgment in the suit with number FA/ASA/CS/76/2018, the plaintiffs had sought 13 reliefs among which is a declaration that the Ogodo-led executive committee is the authentic state executive of the party.
Among other prayers sought by the plaintiffs was a declaration that the candidates that emerged from the primaries conducted by the Ogodo-led executive is the authentic list of candidates for the 2019 general election.
Justice Adegoke, in her judgment, granted all the reliefs sought by the plaintiffs.
However, counsel to the defendants, Dr. Okubor Nwachukwu, said that they would challenge the judgment in the appellate court, expressing hope that the appeal court would upturn the judgment.
On his part, the counsel to the plaintiffs, Roland Ekpe, said that the judgment did not fall short of their expectations, adding that all the nominations done by the Erue-led executive council in the 2019 general election were null and void.
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