An Anambra High Court Sitting on Awka on Monday, ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognize and list Sen. Ugochukwu Uba as candidate of People Democratic Party (PDP) for the November 6 governorship election in the state.
The presiding judge, Justice Obiora Nwabunike gave the order in his judgment on the matter between Uba as plaintiff and INEC, PDP and Valentine Ozigbo as defendants.
Nwabunike also awarded damages of N10 million against the defendant in favour of the plaintiff as cost of litigation.
Uba had approached the court in Suit no A/230/2021 to determine if the primary election conducted by the National Executive of PDP at the Dora Akunyili Women’s Development Centre on June 26, was according to the law.
Uba also sought the determination of the court on whether an Abuja High Court Order between Mr Samuel Anyakorah and PDP, on validity of the process that produced the Chief Ndubuisi, had been set aside or stayed.
Uba also prayed the court to determine if the process of the primary which produced Ozigbo through Super Delegates was in line with provision of Electoral Act, which states that primary election would be done through delegate congress.
Justice Nwabunike ruled that the Court Order which restrained PDP from conducting the primary had neither been stayed nor set aside.
He said though PDP as a body had their constitution and national executive, both could not be above the order of Court and that the party had not successfully vacated the extant orders before conducting the primary.
He said that PDP erred by not clearing every legal huddle before the primary election, adding that the process was in defiance of the law.
According to him an order of court remains subsisting unless and until it is upturned or set aside.
Nwabunike ruled that the primary which produced Uba at the Paul University complex on June 26, was lawful and in accordance with the electoral guideline which provided that primary elections could only be done through a delegate congress.
The Judge also threw out an application by PDP which was brought to him on the day of judgement for lacking in merit.
He held that WDC primary did not obey court order because rather than forward names of delegates to INEC, it used Super Delegates contrary to the judgment of the Federal High Court.
The Judge noted that the faction had wanted to overturn the FCT High Court judgment but failed and still disobeyed it, “so the party has become a troubled house,” he ruled.
