The All Progressives Congress in Zamfara State now has the all-clear
from the Appeal Court to field candidates for the elections.
On Thursday, the court of appeal sitting in Abuja set aside the
judgment of the Federal High Court, Abuja, which barred the APC from
fielding candidates, in consonance with the earlier decision of the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The Federal High Court gave its ruling on 25 January on the same day
that another court upheld the primaries organised by the state chapter
of the party.
But a 3- man panel of the appellate court described the judgment in
Abuja as an abuse of court process. The panel held that the trial court
lacked the jurisdiction to have entertained the suit.
The panel further said the suit at the Federal High Court was filed out of time.
It said while the electoral act provided for 14 days to institute a
suit after the cause of action had arisen, the suit was filed 15 days
after, making the action illegal.
The appellate court ruling comes one week after Abubakar Malami,
attorney-general of the federation, asked INEC to postpone elections in
Zamfara state.
In a letter dated February 13, 2019, Malami said he acted based on a
petition from a law firm claiming that recent court judgments have
annulled the stand of INEC that the APC did not conduct primaries in the
state and can therefore not field candidates.
He had said since the courts admitted that primaries were held, INEC
should shift the elections to allow APC catch up with other parties in
preparing for the polls.
But the commission disregarded Malami’s letter.
At a press conference in Abuja on Thursday, Mahmood Yakubu, INEC
chairman insisted that APC in Zamfara would not field candidates. He
spoke before the latest twist at the Appeal Court.
The Cable
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