Federal High Court Rejects Faction’s Request To Oust LP Candidate In Imo Gubernatorial Poll

The request made by the LP faction to exclude the gubernatorial candidate was rejected by the Federal High Court in Abuja…CONTINUE READING....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

Presiding Judge Inyang Achonu disagreed with the ex-parte application presented by the faction’s counsel, Mohammed Ndarani Mohammed.

Instead of granting the request, Justice Ekwo instructed Apapa and his group to notify the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) about the lawsuit’s existence, allowing it to prepare a defense.

The faction had filed an ex-parte application, marked FCH/ABJ/CS/1357/2023, seeking an interim injunction to prevent INEC from recognizing anyone else claiming the party’s gubernatorial ticket in Imo State other than Chief Ukaegbu Ikechukwu Joseph, who won in the Apapa-led primary election on April 16, 2023.

The faction also requested a mandatory injunction requiring INEC to acknowledge and list Ukaegbu Joseph as the legitimate gubernatorial candidate for the party in Imo State.

Additionally, they sought a mandatory order for INEC to list Lamidi Apapa as the national chairman of the party and Lawal Saleh as the national secretary.

However, Justice Ekwo, after considering the arguments made by the lawyer, decided not to grant the request.

He ordered the faction to transform the ex-parte motion into a motion on notice and serve it on INEC, the sole defendant in the case.

The Judge stated, “I am not granting you this application today, and you must bring INEC to court to present its side of the matter.”