AA not eligible to present candidates for Bayelsa, Kogi polls - Court
The Federal High Court in Abuja yesterday held that Action Alliance (AA) is ineligible to present candidates for the gubernatorial elections in Bayelsa and Kogi states.
The party, along with its governorship candidates in Bayelsa and Kogi, Ebi Peretiemo and Dr. Samuel Alfa respectively, had sued the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the latter’s rejection of their nominations for the forthcoming elections in the two states.
They contended in the suit that having complied with the provisions of sections 85(1) to (2) and 31(1) of the Electoral Act, INEC could not have validly rejected the nomination of their candidates for the forthcoming elections in the two states.
They said they were at the headquarters of INEC on September 9, 2019 to submit forms CF.001 and
CF.002, among other nomination forms for the two candidates.
The plaintiffs added that they were given tag number 15, but an INEC official in charge of the collection of the forms refused to accept their forms when it got to their turn.
Delivering judgment on the suit, the presiding judge, Justice Inyang Ekwo, held that the plaintiffs failed to provide evidence that they were on the premises of INEC or attempted to submit their forms before 6pm of September 9, 2019 as they claimed.
He held that without providing the said evidence, the party failed to comply with the INEC’s guidelines that all political parties must have submitted their nomination forms by 6pm of September 9, 2019.
“The first plaintiff (AA) having not complied with the guidelines and regulations of INEC that it must submit its candidates’ nomination forms on or before 6pm on September 9, 2019 is ineligible to field candidates in the November 2019 governorship election in Kogi and Bayelsa states," Justice Ekwo held.
“I hold that their case lacks merit,” the judge ruled.