Kogi Guber Poll: APP Withdraws Appeal Against Exclusion

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The Action Peoples Party (APP) has withdrawn its appeal before Court of Appeal, Abuja division, over the exclusion of its candidates from participating in the 2019 governorship election in Kogi and Bayelsa States.

The appeal was consequently dismissed by the Court of Appeal on Thursday.

The appeal was dismissed just after the Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri, his deputy, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo and the Peoples Democratic Party had asked to be joined in the appeal as respondents.

Also on Thursday, the Kogi state governor, Yahaya Bello and his political platform, the All Progressive Congress (APC), had equally approached the court to be joined as respondents in the appeal.

The appeal brought by the Action Peoples Party (APP) against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the exclusion of its governorship candidates.

However, when the matter was called up, counsel to the appellant, Obed Agu drew the attention of the court to a motion of withdrawal of the appeal filed on April 14.

Agu told the court that his client was desirous of withdrawing the appeal in accordance to order 11 Rule 1 of the Court of Appeal rules 2015.

His application was not opposed to by counsel to INEC, Alhassan Umar SAN and those representing parties seeking to be joined in the appeal.

Umar however asked the court for N3m cost against the appellant.

Other counsel representing parties seeking to be joined in the matter did not opposed the motion for withdrawal of the appeal but demanded that it should be dismissed.

Delivering it’s ruling, a three-man panel of the court led by the acting President, Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem dismissed the appeal in line with order 11 Rule 5 of the Court of Appeal rules.

The court however refused to award cost against the appellant on the ground that the only respondent on record, the INEC, did not file it’s response to the appeal.

Justice Mensem who delivered the unanimous ruling said the preliminary objection filed by INEC against the appeal cannot stand on its own without a respondents brief.

The appeal marked CA/ABJ/CV/218/2020 is challenging the judgment of Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of the Abuja division of the Federal High Court delivered on February 21st, wherein she held that INEC was right to have excluded candidates of the party (APP) in the governorship election in Kogi and Bayelsa states in 2019.

The judgment of the trial court was predicated on the ground that APP replaced its withdrawn candidates outside the statutory period of 45 days to the date of the 2019 Kogi and Bayelsa States’ governorship election.

Specifically, in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1163/2019 the party had among other reliefs, sought the declaration of the court to the effect that any subsequent conduct of the 2019 Kogi and Bayelsa governorship elections without the replaced candidates of the Plaintiff amount to unlawful exclusion of the plaintiff in the said election.

“A declaration that any subsequent conduct of the 2019 Kogi and Bayelsa States’ governorship election without the replaced candidates of the plaintiff is null and void by reason of such exclusion.”


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