An Abuja Division of Court of Appeal on Thursday affirmed the candidature of Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan as the authentic candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for Kogi Central senatorial district.
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The court in affirming the candidature of Akpoti-Uduaghan, dismissed the appeal challenging her nomination which was filed by Adamu Atta, who contested the ticket with her.
A Federal High Court, sitting in Lokoja had on September 2, dismissed a suit challenging the nomination of the Abuja-based lawyer, Akpoti-Uduaghan as the Senatorial candidate of the PDP for Kogi Central.
The court presided by Justice Peter Mallong, had while delivering judgment in the suit held that the legal action instituted by Adamu Atta, who contested the PDP senatorial ticket the Respondent (Akpoti-Uduaghan) was grossly incompetent and incurably defective and thereby robbed the court of jurisdiction to entertain it.
Atta had in his Originating Summons alleged that Akpoti-Uduaghan did not win the primary election of the PDP for Kogi Central Senatorial District for the 2023 general election and therefore her nomination should be nullified.
He claimed among others, that the May 25 primary election which produced Akpoti-Uduaghan was flawed and not validly conducted as required by law.
The plaintiff asked the court to void and set aside the primary election as well as the eventual nomination of the defendant.
However, Akpoti-Uduaghan through her counsel, John Usman SAN vehemently objected to the hearing of the suit on the ground that the Originating Summon was not endorsed as required by law.
Usman in his preliminary objection against the legal action relied on section 97 of the Sheriff and Civil Process Act to establish that the originating summons was incurably defective and incompetent having not been endorsed in line with provisions of the law.
Besides the incompetence of the originating summons, Akpoti-Uduaghan had in her counter-affidavit averred that the primary election conducted on 25th May 2022 was monitored by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and that she validly won, attaching the result, delegates list and INEC report.
In his judgment, Justice Mallong agreed with Usman that the suit was improperly commenced and that the Court lacked jurisdiction to hear it and subsequently dismissed it in its entirety.
Not satisfied with the judgment of the court, Atta appealed to against to the decision of the lower court.
However, ruling on the appeal on Thursday, the Court of Appeal upheld the arguement of Natasha’s Counsel Usman, that the Deponents of the affidavits in support of the originating summons who were not delegates cannot challenge the delegate election.
The court in the judgment read by Justice Gafai, held further that the handwritten purported delegate list by the appellant lacks evidential value relying on the certified true copies of the delegate election results and the primary election tendered by Akpoti-Uduaghan.
The court held that the election of Akpoti-Uduaghan is upheld, the appeal lacks merit and was dismissed.
Akpoti ran for the post of senator under the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 2019.
In 2019, she was a governorship candidate in the state, challenging Bello.
In May, Akpoti won the PDP primary election for the 2023 Kogi Central Senatorial District, to go against the ruling APC’s Abubakar Ohere, among others.
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