Kogi State Governor Idris Wada and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) have asked a Federal High Court in Abuja to declare Wada winner of last Saturday’s inconclusive governorship election. In a suit filed on their behalf by Chief Chris Uche (SAN), Wada said in view of the death of the All Progressives Congress’ candidate, Abubakar Audu, he should be declared the winner of the botched election being the only surviving candidate with the majority of lawful votes cast in the election held on November 21.
Wada also asked the court to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to issue him with a certificate of return.
INEC, the attorney general of the federation and the APC are joined as the1st, 2nd and 3rd defendants, respectively. The plaintiffs also filed another application praying the court to restrain INEC from conducting the supplementary election scheduled for December 5.
Wada also asked the court to issue an order of injunction restraining APC from organising or holding a fresh primary election for the purpose of any supplementary or other election for the Kogi State governorship election.
The governor also asked the court to declare that APC cannot organise and hold a fresh primary election for the purpose of the supplementary election, having regard to the immutable statutory timeliness provided by enabling sections of the Electoral Act 2010 and the INEC timetable for Kogi governorship election.
The plaintiffs asked the court to declare that the AGF was not competent toissue directives to INEC to allow APC to substitute its candidate for the Kogi governorship election after the commencement of the election, and that such directives were null and void for inconsistency with the provisions of the constitution.
They also asked the court to hold that APC could not lawfully nominate a candidate for the supplementary governorship election without a valid and legally cognizable primary election of the party conducted within the mandatory timeliness specified by the Electoral Act.
Wada and PDP further asked the court to declare that: “having regards to the provisions of Section 141 of the Electoral Act, 2010, votes scored by a candidate who died during an election cannot be inherited by or transferred to a person who was not a candidate at the said election and who did not participate in all stages of such election, for the purpose of concluding such election.”
A 36-paragraph affidavit was deposed to by the PDP state collation agent for the election, Mr. Joe Agada.
The case has yet not been assigned to any judge.
