Court Strikes Another Out Suit By Rivers PDP To Disqualify APC Candidates

Justice Turaki Mohammed of Federal High Court 5, Port Harcourt on Wednesday struck out the suit filed by Rivers chapter of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP challenging the eligibility of candidates of All Progressives Congress, APC to participate in the 2023 election in the state.

PDP had asked the court to disqualify Rivers National Assembly candidates of APC from participating in the election over claims that the primaries that led to their emergence were not conducted in accordance to the 2021 Electoral Act.

But the court strikes out the suit for for lack of jurisdiction.

In a judgment that lasted less than five minutes, Justice Mohammed held that the decisions of the Court of Appeal on the subject matter are binding on him and forms sufficient grounds to strike out the case.

The Court of Appeal in a landmark judgement had ruled that no political party has right to meddle into the internal affairs of another party, especially as it concerns how they choose their Candidates.

The Court of Appeal further said that no lower Court has jurisdiction to entertain such suit in the first place or adjudicate on it

With this decision, the other suits initiated by the Rivers State Chapter of the PDP, to disqualify candidates of opposition parties from contesting the forthcoming elections are also bound to fail.

In his reaction to the judgment, Sogbeye C. Eli, the APC Spokesman, “The plan contrived by Rivers PDP to deny APC participation in 2023 election and the right by field candidates thereby deprive Rivers people of their constitutional freedom of choice to elect their representatives has collapsed”.