The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Thursday affirmed Prince Yusuf Kadari, SAN, as the deputy governorship candidate of the Labour Party, LP, for the forthcoming gubernatorial election in Edo State.
The court, in a judgment delivered by Justice Emeka Nwite, held that the LP was within its rights when it nominated Kadiri as the running mate to its flag-bearer for the election, Olumide Akpata.
Justice Nwite held that the electoral body had no right to reject Kadiri’s nomination since the party acted in line with provisions of both the Electoral Act 2022 and the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
Recall that the governorship candidate of the LP, Akpata, had picked Kadari as his running mate for the election slated for September 21.
Even though Kadiri’s name was forwarded to INEC by the party, however, the electoral umpire published Alufohai Oluyinka Faith as the deputy governorship candidate of the LP.
Realizing the error, the party wrote the electoral body, asking it to replace the name it published with that of the candidate it nominated and forwarded to it.
Following the failure of INEC to comply with the directive, LP brought the case before the court.
Delivering his judgment in the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/556/2024, which had INEC as the sole defendant, Justice Nwite faulted the Commission for its refusal to make the requested substitution.
He held that Section 31 of the Electoral Act 2022, gave the room for a political party to within 90 days to a scheduled election, write to INEC to demand the withdrawal of a candidate whose name was already published.
The judge held that evidence before the court showed that the LP did not act outside the provisions of sections 29, 31, 32 and 33 of the Electoral Act 2022.