A Federal High Court in Abuja has annulled the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary in Anambra State, which produced Andy Uba as the party’s candidate.
Justice Inyang Ekwo, the presiding judge, gave the judgement on Monday while ruling on a suit filed by George Moghalu, an aspirant in the APC primary election.
Moghalu had approached the court challenging the process and the outcome of the primary election. According to him, the APC did not conduct a valid primary election from which Uba claimed to have emerged as the party’s candidate.
The APC, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and Uba were the defendants in the suit.
Delivering judgment on Monday, Justice Ekwo held that the primary election that produced Uba was not validly conducted as it was in breach of the electoral act and the party’s constitution.
“Therefore, the case of the plaintiff succeeds on its merit,” he ruled.
The judge subsequently ordered INEC to delete Uba from its record as a candidate in the election.
He also ordered the party to refund the N22.5 million paid by Moghalu for expression of interest and nomination forms.
At the primary, which has now been annulled, Uba scored 230,000 votes but only managed to garner about 43,000 votes at the main election, which was won by Prof. Chukwuma Soludo of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA).
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