The Labour Party has appealed against the ruling of the Federal High Court in Kano that nullified the candidature of Abia State governor-elect, Alex Otti, and other Labour Party candidates in the state’s March 18, 2023, governorship election. The court ruled that the party’s selection process which led to the emergence of Alex Otti and other candidates did not comply with the requirements stipulated in the 2022 electoral act.
According to the lawsuit FHC/KN/CS/107/2023 brought against the Labour Party and the Independent National Electoral Commission by Mr Ibrahim Haruna Ibrahim, the party failed to submit its membership register to the INEC at least 30 days prior to their primaries, which the court deemed a violation that invalidated the entire selection process.
The applicant further sought the court’s intervention to set aside the Certificate of Return issued to all Labour Party candidates and direct INEC to declare the first runner-up as the winner in all constituencies in which the Labour Party emerged victorious. The court agreed with the motion stating that “a party that has not complied with the provisions of the electoral act cannot be considered to have a candidate in an election, and thus, cannot be declared the winner. Therefore, the votes attributed to the first defendant [Labour Party] are wasted votes.”
The Labour Party’s legal counsel, Umeh Kalu, SAN, has filed an appeal on May 22, against the judgement of the trial court, urging the court to set it aside. The court, however, declined to order the issuance of a Certificate of Return to any individual in Abia State, stating that “the parties that participated in Abia State are not parties before this court.”
It remains to be seen the outcome of the appeal filed by the Labour Party, but many would be watching the developments closely.
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