Enugu PDP primaries: Court gives PDP, INEC one-day ultimatum

A Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday, asked the Peoples Democratic Party and the Independent National Election Commission, to within 24 hours, respond to a suit challenging the validity of the party’s governorship primaries conducted in Enugu State on December 8.

The presiding judge, Justice Evoh Chukwu, who had abridged time within which processes be filed, asked the PDP and INEC to appear in court on Thursday.

The suit was instituted by a governorship aspirant on the platform of the PDP, Dr. Samuel Onyishi, who insisted that the primary election was conducted in total disregard of a pending suit challenging the list of  delegates used for the exercise.

Maduka also argued that Justice Chukwu, had prior to the primaries, in another suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/830/2014, instituted by Orji Godwin along with other plaintiffs against the PDP and others, backed a list different from the one used for the primaries.

Onyishi in his fresh suit contended that the PDP’s Enugu State Electoral Panel, in breach of the court’s decision, discarded the list of delegates approved by the court.

He said the panel  used a totally different list of delegates which  was handed over to it by the leadership of the party.

He further averred that no valid election took place in the state as no votes or results could have been recorded from the flawed election.

Onyishi, who is the owner of Peace Mass Transit Limited, is seeking a court order voiding the outcome of the primaries.

He said the primary election was in breach of sections 87(4)(b)(i) of the Electoral Act and for non- compliance with the electoral guidelines for primary elections 2014 of the PDP and the party’s constitution.

He is seeking the court to determine among other questions, “Whether the said governorship primary election 2014 conducted by the party on the 8th day of December 2014 in Enugu State for the forthcoming 2015 Enugu State Governorship election in breach of sections 87(4) (b) (ii) and 87(9) of the Electoral Act 2010 ( as amended) and non- compliance with the Electoral Guidelines for Primary Elections 2014 of the 1st defendant (PDP), is valid.

“Whether the PDP can lawfully declare any person as the winner of the said primary election based on the results of the Governorship Primary Election 2014 purportedly conducted by the party in Enugu State on the 8th day of December 2014 using a doctored list of delegates at variance with that sanctioned in the said suit by this honourable court, in breach of sections 87(4)(b) (ii) and 87(9) of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) and non-compliance with the Electoral Guidelines of the 1st defendant.”