Anambra guber: Appeal Court reserves judgment in Andy Uba, APC’s appeals

The Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, on Wednesday, reserved judgment in two appeals seeking to set aside the December 20, 2021 judgment of the Federal High Court, Abuja voiding Andy Uba’s participation in the last gubernatorial election in Anambra State as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

A three-member panel of Justices of the court, led by Justice Stephen Adah, reserved the date for judgment after counsel to parties adopted their written addresses in the appeals.

The appellate court held that the appeals having, been heard, judgment in each of the appeal is reserved to a date to be communicated to parties.

APC and Uba are contending, in the appeals that the trial Court in Abuja erred in law in holding that the APC did not conduct a valid primary election and therefore, did not present a valid candidate for the election.

The first appeal heard was the one marked: CA/A/CV/13/2022 filed by the APC through its lawyer, Mahmud Magaji (SAN).

Respondents in the appeal are Dr George Moghalu, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Emmanuel Andy Nnamdi Uba.

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Magaji, while adopting the appellant’s briefs, prayed the court to allow the appeal and set aside the earlier judgment by the Federal High Court, Abuja.

Counsel to Moghalu, Chris Uche (SAN) also adopted the first respondent’s brief and prayed the court to dismiss the appeal and uphold the judgment of the trial court.

Lawyers to INEC and the APC filed no brief.

In the second appeal, marked: CA/A/CV/36/2022 filed by Uba, counsel to the appellant, Abdullahi Aliyu urged the court to allow the appeal and reject their earlier judgment of the Federal High Court, Abuja.

Aliyu said the appellant’s argument is that a High Court in Awka had upheld the primary conducted by the APC and that as it stands, there are two conflicting judgments on the issue of whether or not the APC conducted a valid primary which produced Uba as the party’s candidate for the election.

Uche, who represented the first respondent (Moghalu), urged the court to dismiss the appeal for lacking in merit and to uphold the earlier judgment by the Federal High Court.

In the judgment of the Federal High Court delivered on December 20, 2021, Justice Inyang Ekwo held among others, that Uba was never a candidate in the election held on November 6, 2022, having emerged from an illegally conducted primary election held by the APC.

Justice Ekwo held that the plaintiff, Moghalu (an APC aspirant for the election) succeeded in proving that the APC did not conduct a valid primary election from which Uba claimed to have emerged as the party’s candidate.

Moghalu had queried the legitimacy of the governorship primary election purportedly conducted by the APC on June 26, 2021, which allegedly produced Uba as the party”s candidate for the November 6, 2021 election.

Justice Ekwo, in the judgment, said: “The real issue in this case, which both the first defendant (APC) and third defendant (Uba) seem not to understand is not whether accredited members of the first defendant voted on June 26, 2021, but whether there was any primary election at all conducted in accordance with the mandatory provisions of both the Electoral Act (as amended) and first defendant’s Guidelines for the Nomination of Candidates for the Anambra 2021 Gubernatorial Election-Direct Primaries (Option A4).

“When a primary election is illegal, the fact that such illegal election was monitored by the Nigeria Police (or other security agencies) as averred in paragraph 25 (ii) of the third defendant’s counter-affidavit is of no moment.

“It is clear from the evidence in this case that the first defendant connived with the third defendant to conduct election outside the time prescribed by Articles 17 (vi) and 18(e), (g) and (i) of the first defendant’s Guidelines for the Nomination of Candidates for the Anambra 2021 Gubernatorial Election-Direct Primaries (Option A4) to the exclusion of the plaintiff.

“In the end, it is my finding that the plaintiff has demonstrated upon preponderance of the evidence that the gubernatorial primary election of the first defendant was not conducted in accordance with the provisions of sections 85 (2) and 87(1) of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) and Articles 17 (vi) and 18(e),(g) and (i) of first defendant’s Guidelines for the Nomination of Candidates for the Anambra 2021 Gubernatorial Election-Direct Primaries (Option A4).

“Therefore, the case of the plaintiff succeeds on the merit,” the judge said.

He retrained Uba from further holing himself out or parading himself as a candidate in the election and ordered the APC to refund to the plaintiff the N22,500.000 he paid for expression of interest and nomination forms since the party failed to conduct a valid primary.

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Anambra guber: Appeal Court reserves judgment in Andy Uba, APC’s appeals

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Anambra guber: Appeal Court reserves judgment in Andy Uba, APC’s appeals