The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed an appeal by the All Progressives Congress (APC) against the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) concerning the Ahiazu Mbaise Ezinihitte Federal Constituency of Imo State. The apex court ruled that the APC had no legal right to intervene in the selection of the PDP’s candidate.
The suit had been instituted by Imo State APC chieftain Nnamdi Igbokwe, who challenged the nomination of Emeka Martins Chinedu as the PDP’s candidate for the constituency. Igbokwe sought a court order directing the Independent National Electoral Commission not to accept or list Chinedu as a lawfully nominated candidate. The APC argued that the PDP’s candidate had been returned unopposed in a primary election for the House of Representatives ticket for the February 25, 2023, National Assembly election, and that this unopposed process was not recognized by law and should be rejected by the electoral body.
After losing at both the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal, the APC appealed to the Supreme Court, contending that the PDP’s method of producing its candidate was improper. The Supreme Court, however, dismissed the appeal as lacking merit, holding that the APC and Igbokwe had no standing to challenge the PDP’s candidate‑selection process.
Delivering the judgment, Justice Emmanuel Akomaye Agim described the APC’s actions as those of a “meddlesome interloper” interfering in the affairs of the PDP and ordered each party to bear its own costs of litigation.
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