The Federal High Court (FHC), Abuja Judicial Division, has ruled that the All Progressives Congress, (APC), has no candidate in the just concluded November 6 Anambra State governorship election.
His Lordship, Hon Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja while ruling on the case filed by Dr George Moghalu, a governorship aspirant of APC, challenging the candidacy of Senator Andy Ubah as the governorship candidate of APC in the November 6 governorship election in Anambra State ruled that APC has no governorship candidate in the said election.
Consequently, His Lordship, Justice Inyang Ekwo in his ruling disqualified Senator Andy Uba as the Candidate of APC in the November election.
The court, subsequently held that APC had no candidate in the just concluded Anambra gubernatorial election and that Senator Andy Uba should Stop Parading himself as the governorship Candidate of APC in Anambra State.
In addition, the Court also ruled that APC should refund Dr George Moghalu his Nomination and Express of Interest form fees.
It will be recalled that after the APC primaries that threw up Senator Andy Uba as the party standard-bearer, there was generally outrage by other contestants and some members of the leadership of the party that no primary election took place.
Dr Senator Chris Ngige, a key Stakeholders of the party in Anambra State, specifically told the entire world that no primary election was held in the state.
Other contestants who felt short-changed also cried foul over the bogus results Andy Uba declared to foist himself as the party gubernatorial candidate in the state when indeed no primary election took place.
Uba plans to appeal the Illegal Primary
The Media Director, Senator Andy Uba Governorship Organisation, Dr. Ikechukwu Onyia, has said that Senator Andy Uba and his party, the All Progressives Congress will appeal the judgment of Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court that nullified it’s candidate’s nomination as the candidate of APC for the November 6, 2021, Anambra governorship election.
Onyia also accused the All Progressives Grand Alliance in Anambra, of doing everything possible to derail Uba’s attempt to upturn the governorship election result at the election petitions tribunal.
He made these remarks in a press release on Monday.
Onyia said, “We are not surprised that APGA members are celebrating the Justice Ekwo judgment like a child that received Christmas clothes from his father. They believe that the judgment will stop Andy Uba from proving his petition at the tribunal. The good thing is that this is not the last court in this instance. We are heading to the Appeal Court to prove them wrong.”
“We, therefore, urge the APGA-led government of Anambra State to keep herself busy with challenges facing the state rather than investing in ‘Operation Stop Andy Uba’ dance.”
He urged the APC supporters to remain calm.
However, the APGA Coordinator on Media Affairs, Mr Chinedu Obigwe, in his reaction, described the APC’s comments as “empty and baseless”.
He said, “Is APGA INEC or the court that has nullified their candidate’s validity? This is to tell you that these people don’t know what they are doing. Just ignore them.”
The court had nullified the APC governorship primary in Anambra State, insisting that Uba’s emergence as winner was illegal.
Justice Ekwo therefore stated that Uba’s participation in the November 6 governorship election was void.
The judge added that the plaintiff, George Moghalu, succeeded in proving that the APC did not conduct a valid primary election from which Uba claimed to have emerged as the party’s candidate
In a judgment on Monday, Justice Ekwo held that Uba was never a candidate in the election having emerged from an illegally conducted primary election.
The court ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to delete Uba from its record as a candidate in the election and ordered the APC to refund to Moghalu, the sum of N22.5m which is the amount he paid for expression of interest and nomination forms since the party failed to conduct a valid primary.
At the direct primary which has now been annulled, Uba scored 230,000 votes but only managed to garner some 43,000 votes at the main election which was won by Prof. Chukwuma Soludo of the APGA.
