The Abuja Court of Appeal has dismissed a member of the House of Representatives, Micheal Enyong, as the candidate for governor of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, for Akwa Ibom State.
Meanwhile, the Court has affirmed Umo Eno.
Eno’s nomination was earlier annulled by a Federal High Court in Abuja on January 20, 2023.
In issuing his ruling on Tuesday, Judge Hamma Barka overturned the Federal High Court’s ruling and annulled it on the grounds that it was based on errors.
Judge Barka agreed with Eno’s lawyers that the Federal High Court’s judgment was rendered in error and that the plaintiff misled the court on the matter to reach an unfair conclusion.
The appeals court held that the issue of statutory delegates voting in the primary is an internal party matter and that the lower court should not have investigated the matter.
Judge Barka also agreed that only the National Labor Committee of a political party has the power to hold primary elections for the purpose of nominating candidates for the general election.
The appeals court further held that since the trial court does not have jurisdiction to investigate the internal affairs of the PDP, the judge has no statutory discretion to exercise the matter.
Subsequently, Judge Barka upheld the PDP’s appeal and quashed all orders issued by the Federal High Court judgment in favor of Michael Enyong.
The Court further ordered Mr. Michael Enyong to pay Appellant N1m as litigation costs.
