Senator Ayogu Eze on Friday asked the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, not to accept any other name as governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, other than himself.
Eze’s suit is coming a day after the Honourable Ugwuanyi who declared winner of the PDP governorship primary held in Enugu had gone to court to seek its order to restrain Eze from parading himself as the PDP candidate in Enugu.
Eze was declared winner of a parallel primary held by his group at Filbon Hotel, Enugu.
In a suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/2014 filed by his Counsel, Yusuf
Ali, SAN, Eze also asked the court
to restrain ”the PDP, the National Working Committee, NWC, and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, by themselves, agents, officers, officials, privies or representatives and other person whatsoever, deriving authority from them from submitting, forwarding or sending the names of any other person other than himself, as their duly elected governorship candidate for 2015 governorship election in Enugu State, pending the final determination of the substansive case.
”To restrain INEC, its agents, priveies, or representatives from recognising, accepting or giving effect to the name of any other person other than himself as the governorship candidate of the the PDP and the NWC of the party for the Enugu State governorship election in 2015 as well as such further or other orders as the court may deem fit to make in the circumstances of this case.”
The plaintiff said that the PDP and NWC conducted ward congresses in Enugu State on November 1, 2014 as a result of which a list of delegates for the conduct of primary election for the governorship candidate of the party emerged consisting names of the elected delegates.
According to him, the list was sanctioned and authenticated by the Federal High Court, Abuja, in suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/816/2014, which judgement was delivered on November 24, 2014.
Eze further said that he emerged as the governorship candidate of the party based on the correct delegates list sanctioned by the same court adding however that the defendants were bent sending another person other than his name to INEC as their chosen governorship candidate for the said 2015 election, adding that granting the ”if the defendants were not restrained from doing so, pending the the determination of of this case, the judgement of the court will be rendered nugatory.”
He further said that granting the application would not in any way prejudice the defendants herein. Issues for determination in the case include, ”whether having regard to the decision of the Federal High Court in suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/830/2014, between Barr. Orji Chinyere Godwin and two others versus the PDP and four others, delivered on November 24, the defendants are entitled to rely on the list of ad-hoc delegates other than the list sanctioned by the decision of the court for the conduct of elections for the nomination of a governorship candidate for Enugu State at its primary election for that purpose.
”Whether having regard to the provisions of the 1999 Constitution as amended, Sections 85 to 87 of the Electoral Act 2011 as amended, the electoral guidelines for primary elections 2014, the defendants could jettison, set aside refuse to use or in any other manner ignore the result of the ward congresses held on November 1, 2014 where ad-hoc delegates from the 260 wards of Enugu State were elected in the conduct of the primary elections to elect the governorship candidate of the PDP for the general elections in 2015…” among other reliefs.
