The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed an appeal by the All Progressives Congress against the People’s Democratic Party on Ahiazu Mbaise Ezinihitte Federal Constituency of Imo State.
The appeal was thrown out by the apex court on the ground that APC has no legal right to dabble in the selection of PDP’s candidate.
An Imo State APC chieftain, Nnamdi Igbokwe, had instituted the suit against the nomination of Emeka Martins Chinedu as PDP’s candidate for Ahiazu Mbaise Ezinihitte Federal Constituency.
Igbokwe had prayed for an order of the court against the Independent National Electoral Commission not to accept or list Chinedu as a lawfully nominated candidate.
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APC argued that PDP’s candidate was returned unopposed in a primary election for the House of Representatives ticket for the February 25, 2023, National Assembly election and that the unopposed system which produced Emeka Martins Chinedu during the primary election was unknown to law and should be rejected by the electoral body.
Having lost the suit at the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal, the APC proceeded to the apex court to air its grievance on how PDP produced its candidate.
But the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal on the grounds that it lacked merit and held that the APC and Igbokwe who were the appellants have no business challenging the candidate selection process of the PDP.
Delivering judgment, Justice Emmanuel Akomaye Agim held that APC acted like a meddlesome interloper in dabbling into the affairs of the PDP and asked the parties to bear their respective cost of litigation.
