Yobe APC: Guber aspirant asks court to cancel primaries

An All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirant in Yobe State, Engr. Mustapha Maihaja, has asked the FCT High Court, Abuja to set aside the screening and primary election conducted by the party alleging that it was illegal.

Maihaja also prayed the court for an interlocutory order of injunction restraining APC from presenting any candidate for the 2015 general election, pending the determination of his case.

The court has however fixed further hearing in the case until January 15 while hearing notice was to be served on the defendants.

The plaintiff is suing the party as the first defendant and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the second defendant, through an originating summons issued by his lawyer Mahmud Abubakar Magaji SAN.

In a 33-paragraph affidavit in support of his case, the plaintiff alleged that he has been wrongfully excluded from the APC primary election after spending huge sums of money in mobilising supporters, printing posters, erecting bill boards and hosting several stakeholders meetings in his bid to enlighten party members of his aspiration.

He stated that after purchasing the N500,000 expression of interest form and the N5 million nomination form of the APC for the post of governorship, the APC official responsible for issuing the forms at the national secretariat, Mr. Abubakar Kari, refused to issue him the two forms.

The forms, according to him, were later released after the intervention of the APC chairman but the APC national secretariat again refused to collect the completed forms before the November 21, 2014 closing date for submission and directed him to submit them at Yobe State.