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Former gubernatorial candidate of the Labour Party, Kenneth Imansuangbon, has taken the party’s gubernatorial candidate in the Edo State election, Barr. Olumide Akpata, to the Court of Appeal, apparently aggrieved by the respective judgments handed down by the High Court of Benin and the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Also involved in the Court of Appeal proceedings is the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Recall that Justice Babatunde Quadri of the Benin High Court and Justice Obiora Egwuatu of the Federal High Court in Abuja dismissed Imansu Anbang’s application on July 15 and 22, 2024 respectively.
In his ruling, Judge Quadri said Imansuanbang’s lawsuit was premature and there was no substantial evidence to support his claims.
The court therefore upheld Olumide Akpata as the governorship candidate of the Liberal Party in the September 21 Edo State gubernatorial election.
But in a notice filed in the Court of Appeal in Abuja (Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/472/2024), Imansuangbang said “the trial judge erred in law and rendered an erroneous judgment by dismissing the plaintiff’s suit on the basis of the arguments raised by the first defendant in the preliminary objection of the court below, resulting in a miscarriage of justice to the plaintiff.
Also read: Edo Electoral Tribunal receives 14 petitions
“The suit is time-barred and without regard to the provisions of Section 285(13A) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Fifth Amendment) Act, 1999 (No. 10), 2023, as noted by the lower court while considering the suit.”
The details of the case are: “The trial judge in his judgment found that the fourth defendant/respondent (Independent National Electoral Commission) received the letter on March 24, 2024 containing the personal information of the first and second defendants/respondents in INEC Form EC9 forwarded to the fourth defendant/respondent (Independent National Electoral Commission).”
Moreover, “the trial judge further found that the date of commencement of calculation in this case, i.e. the time when pre-election matters were filed in this case, is March 24, 2024.
“By simple calculation, from the date when the first and second defendants/respondents filed the said INEC Form EC9 (i.e. March 24, 2024) to April 12, 2024 when the plaintiff/appellant filed the suit, the 14 days prescribed by law amounted to 18 days in total.”
Imansuangbon seeks an order allowing the appeal; an order setting aside the judgment of the lower court; and an order directing the third defendant/respondent to immediately issue to the plaintiff/appellant a certificate of return as the winner of the primary election held on Friday, February 23, 2024.
The reliefs sought by Imansuangbon include “an order allowing the appeal; an order setting aside the judgment of the lower court; an order dismissing all actions filed by the first defendant in the trial court; an order directing the second defendant to immediately issue to the plaintiff a certificate of return as the winner of the primary election organized on Friday, February 23, 2024; and an order directing, ordering or otherwise compelling the second defendant to submit, forward or otherwise transmit the name of the plaintiff to the third defendant as the winner of the primary election.”
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