The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been ordered to recognize and publish the names of candidates developed by the Governor Godwin Obaseki faction of the Edo Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as standard-bearers of the party in the upcoming 2023 elections by a Federal High Court sitting in Benin.
The Court granted all of the plaintiffs’ requests for relief in an opinion written by Hon. Justice S.M. Shuaibu and delivered on Tuesday, September 27, 2022.
Matthew Iduoriyekemwen, the party’s nominee for the Edo South Senatorial District, Sunny Aguebor, the nominee for the Oredo Federal Constituency, and Kabiru Adjoto, the nominee for the Akoko Edo Federal Constituency are among the claimants.
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A court order ordering the fourth defendant, INEC, to publish the names of the plaintiffs as the Edo PDP’s duly elected candidates for the general elections of 2023 is one of the reliefs requested by the plaintiffs.
The Judge stated that, according to previous rulings by the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, only the National Working Committee (NWC) of a political party has the authority to hold party primaries. This is based on past decisions by the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal.
According to him, “there is nothing before the Honourable Court to show that the primaries in which the 4th to 39th defendants participated was conducted by the National Working Committee of the PDP. Rather, their primaries were conducted by the Edo State chapter of the PDP.”
The Judge held, “In my view, the power of INEC under Section 84 of the Electoral Act is limited to monitoring of party primary elections and does not extend to preparing or declaring the results of that election. This remains the law.”
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“In the light of the foregoing, the fourth defendant, INEC, cannot rely on results prepared by the first defendant, Edo PDP,” he noted.
According to Anaedoonline.ng, INEC has already published and recognized the names of candidates associated with the South-South faction of the PDP Vice-Chairman, Dan Orbih.
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