Ibrahim Bakare/Port Harcourt.
Rivers All Progressives Congress, APC, has reacted to the nullification of it primaries that produced Tonye Cole, the Governorship and the State and National Assembly candidates by Federal High Court in Port Harcourt.
Federal High Court sitting in the Rivers State capital, and presided over by Justice E.A. Obile, Tuesday nullified all the primary elections conducted by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.
The Court planked it’s judgement over unlawful exclusion of some members of the party as delegates to the primaries.
The judgement of the Court sacked the Governorship candidate, Tonye Cole, and all candidates for the state and national Assemblies of the party for the 2023 elections.
The judgement delivered by Justice Obile is sequel to a case filed against the APC by one George Orlu and four others seeking the nullification of the primaries after purchasing nomination forms and were excluded from the process.
He ruled that all those elected from the primary are nullified and should not be recognized as candidates.
Reacting to the judgement, APC in Rivers said it is a travesty of justice as far as the party is concerned.
It said that following a Supreme Court judgment on many similar cases which suggest that political parties are their own Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and can regulate on their own affairs, the party would challenge the judgment at the Appeal Court.
The party, through its publicity secretary, Darlington Nwauju said; “The subject matter for which Justice E.A. Obile granted the relief of the plaintiffs to nullify the congresses of our party is entirely an internal party affair, therefore it’s a travesty of justice as far as we are concerned”.
The APC added that the “persons who went to court against our party are now members of the Social Democratic Party, SDP and therefore meddlesome interlopers in our internal affairs”.
“We do believe firmly that the appellate court shall treat the matter dispassionately and deliver justice in this matter because this is not an action against our party but an attempt at challenging the composition of our delegate list.
“We assure Rivers people that the attempt to rehash the 2019 episode in Rivers State is already dead on arrival. Nothing will stop the APC in Rivers State from being on the ballot in 2023”.