The Federal High Court in Abuja has declined to grant a motion ex-parte seeking to restrain the All Progressives Congress (APC) from using the delegate’s list to conduct the primary election scheduled for April 10, to nominate its candidate for the 2023 Kogi State governorship election. The court also refused to stop the APC from submitting the list to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) until the hearing and determination of the motion on notice. The application was filed by two plaintiffs, Realwan Okpanachi and Yahaya Seidu Nuhu, through their counsel, Mr. M.A. Ebute (SAN), with the APC and INEC as the first and second defendants.
The plaintiffs sought an order of interim injunction restraining the APC from utilizing the purported delegates’ list in the primary election and submitting the list to INEC, as well as an order of interim injunction restraining the electoral body from accepting and acting on the list produced by the APC. They also sought an interim injunction restraining INEC from monitoring any primary conducted by the APC using the delegates’ list for the purpose of nominating its candidate for the 2023 governorship election in Kogi State.
However, Justice James Omotosho dismissed the application and ordered all parties to maintain peace and not take any action that could render the outcome of the motion on notice nugatory. He further stated that any step or action by any of the parties in the suit to make the outcome of the motion on notice nugatory would be null and void. The applicants were ordered to serve the respondents with the motion on notice.
The Kogi State governorship election is scheduled to hold on November 6, 2023. The primary election will determine the APC’s candidate for the election.