By Jonathan Ugbal
A Federal High Court sitting in Calabar and presided over by Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu has dismissed the suit instituted by Victoria Otanya Odey seeking, among other prayers, the nullification of the primaries that produced Honorable Regina Anyogo as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC for the Yala 1 State constituency in the 2023 general elections.
The Court held that Odey, having not participated in the primaries which she alleged she was prevented from the venue, lacked the locus standi to seek the nullification of the primaries.
Odey approached the Court via an originating summons where she claimed that she was excluded from the rescheduled primaries held on May 27, 2022, and out of the constituency designated by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
The APC, Honorable Anyogo, and INEC were listed as the first, second, and third defendants in Suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/852/2022. While the first and second defendants filed counter affidavits challenging the averments of the plaintiff, the third defendant failed to join issues.
How The Judgment Went
On the issue of jurisdiction, the first and second defendants objected that the manner of commencement of the suit was defective as the plaintiff did not ensure the processes were properly endorsed for service in line with the Sheriff and Civil Processes act. The Court held that the Federal High Court had only one jurisdiction and resolved the issue in favor of the plaintiff.
On the issue of whether the plaintiff had locus to institute the case, Justice Ojukwu held that having purchased the form, had her name on the result sheet, and exhibited her letter of appeal to the Court, the plaintiff had the locus.
On whether she exhausted the internal party mechanisms before approaching the Court, Justice Ojukwu held that having written the appeal committee just three days before filing the originating summons, the plaintiff should have waited for the outcome. She cited the constitution of the first defendant which said that any member who instituted a case without exhausting the internal party mechanisms stands expelled.
Proceeding to the merits of the case, Justice Ojukwu held that the plaintiff’s question for a determination of whether the second defendant was a member of the first defendant was an invitation of the Court to usurp the powers of the Court of Appeal since it was a live matter.
The Court held that members of a political party were an internal affair. Also, the Court held that it was the place of the first defendant to determine who was its member or not which was proven by the membership card of the second defendant exhibited before the Court.
On the plaintiff’s prayer for nullification, Justice Ojukwu held that although the plaintiff’s claim of participation was confusing as she had alleged exclusion in one breath and obstruction in another, the fact remained that the plaintiff did not participate in the primaries which stripped her of the locus to seek nullification of the primaries having failed to provide cogent materials to prove she participated in the primaries.
Reacting to the judgment, counsel to the plaintiff, F. Baba Isa Esq. commended the Court’s industry and diligence. In a similar vein, counsel to the first and second defendants, Leonard Anyogo Esq. commended the Court’s decision and expressed optimism that this will bring more peace.