Justice A.M. Liman of the Federal High Court, Kano, on Friday, gave the All Progressives Congress (APC) statutory delegates the go-ahead to take part in the party’s presidential primary slated for next week in Abuja.
The judge gave the verdict while ruling in a suit filed by the trio of Senator Mas’ud El-Jibrin Doguwa, Hon. Habibu Sani, and Hon. Bilyaminu Yusuf Shin’Kafi.
The men, who were APC aspirants in the National Assembly primaries, were challenging the disenfranchisement of statutory delegates from voting in the primaries.
Parties’ preparations for the primaries were affected last month following President Muhammadu Buhari’s reluctance to sign the amended version of the Electoral Act.
The President’s assent to the document was necessary as it will determine the number of statutory delegates that will take part in the presidential primaries.
The statutory delegates were excluded from the exercise by the current version of the Electoral Act.
The statutory delegates include the party’s executives at ward, local government, state and national levels, including past executives.
Others are the President, Vice President, former Presidents, former Vice Presidents governors, their deputies, members of the National Assembly, ministers and commissioners.
The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila; and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were listed as respondents in the suit.
The plaintiffs in their originating summons dated May 23, 2022, urged the court to declare that section 84(8) cannot be interpreted to have excluded statutory delegates from voting at the convention, congress or meeting by virtue of section 223 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and Article 20(iv)(c) of the All Progressive Congress (APC) Constitution, which allow Statutory Delegation to vote at convention, congress or meeting.”
In his ruling Justice Liman declared that statutory delegates are constitutionally qualified to attend all meetings, congresses, and conventions of any registered political party in Nigeria.
He noted that the section cannot be interpreted to have excluded statutory delegates from voting at the convention, congress, or meeting, by virtue of Section 223 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and Article 20(iv)(c) of the APC Constitution, which allow Statutory Delegation to vote at the convention, congress or meeting.”
With this judgement, all statutory delegates from each political party can attend future congresses and conventions of political parties in the country.
