The Court ordered Labour Party to conduct a fresh primary within two weeks.
By Anayochukwu Agbo.
A Federal High Court Abuja presided over by Justice Nkonye Evelyn Maha on Wednesday, November 9 annulled the Enugu State Labour Party replacement gubernatorial primary which produced Chijioke Edeoga as the candidate for the 2023 election.
The Court held that Labour Party illegally excluded Evarest Nnaji from the primary after collecting nomination fee and issuing him nomination forms. The Court further held that Labour did not provide any evidence of informing other aspirants to the position of the date of the primary as claimed by the party.
Furthermore, Labour Party also failed to provide evidence of the withdrawal of the placeholder, Casmir Agbo, Enugu State Chairman of the party.
Consequently, the Party was ordered to conduct a fresh primary within two weeks.
On October 4, 2022, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in line with the electoral guidelines, published the name of Chijoke Edeoga as the Enugu State gubernatorial candidate, replacing Casmir Agbo, the State party Chairman who was the placeholder.
Edeoga emerged from the guided primary conducted for only him by the party on August 4, 2022. Prior to this the national secretariat of the party sold forms to three persons in this order – Dr Davidson Nnamani, Edeoga and Evarest Nnaji. The Party could not achieve a consensus. They promised each of them he would be the consensus candidate. However, Edeoga was forcibly made the sole aspirant at the primary and he was returned elected. His name was subsequently forwarded to INEC.
Then Nnaji went to court. The suit instituted by Evarest Edeh Nnaji, popularly known as Odengene, on August 16 has only two defendants – the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and Labour Party. Nnaji had earlier instituted a similar case at the federal high Port Harcourt but abandoned it for the federal high court Abuja.
He asked the court to determine if:
1. Having fulfilled all conditions precedent given to him by Labour Party for his emergence as the party’s consensus gubernatorial candidate in Enugu State for 2023 general elections, he ought not to be declared as the authentic and validly nominated consensus gubernatorial candidate of LP in the forthcoming 2023 general elections.
2. Having fulfilled all the conditions LP “is not estopped from submitting to INEC the name of any person other than himself as the authentic and validly nominated consensus gubernatorial candidate” of the Party for the election.
3. His exclusion by LP “from participating/contesting as an aspirant at the party’s Enugu State gubernatorial primary election purportedly conducted on the 4th day of August, 2022 or any other date, is not illegal, unconstitutional and renders the said primary election null, void and of no effect whatsoever.”
4. If INEC “ought not recognize, deal with him and publish his name as the authentic and validly nominated gubernatorial candidate of LP in Enugu for the forthcoming 2023 general elections.”
Against this background, Nnaji asked for the following reliefs:
1. A declaration that he is the authentic and validly nominated consensus gubernatorial candidate of LP in Enugu State for the forthcoming 2023 general elections.
2. A declaration that LP is estopped from submitting to INEC any person other himself as the candidate of the party
3. A declaration that LP’s Enugu State gubernatorial primary purportedly conducted on the 4th day OF August 2022 is null, void and of no effect whatsoever.
4. A declaration that INEC ought to recognise Nnaji, deal with and publish his name as the authentic and validly nominated gubernatorial candidate of LP.
5. An Order directing LP to submit his name to INEC as gubernatorial candidate of the Party.
6. An Order directing INEC to forthwith accept and recognise Nnaji as the gubernatorial candidate of the Party.
7. An Order of Injunction restraining Labour from submitting any name other his name to INEC as the gubernatorial candidate of the party.
8. An Order of Injunction restraining INEC from accepting, acting on, according recognition to, or in any way or manner dealing with any person other than Nnaji as the gubernatorial candidate of the Party.
9. Or in the alternative, an order directing LP to conduct a fresh gubernatorial primary election in Enugu State within a reasonable time from the date of the order, at which Nnaji and other eligible aspirants in the party shall participate and contest for the gubernatorial candidacy of the party.
In the supporting affidavit, Nnaji swore that Labour assured him that if he paid N25 million for expression of interest, nomination form and waiver, he would be the consensus Enugu State gubernatorial candidate of the party. That he paid the N25m to the Party on 13th of July, 2022, and therefore fulfilled all the required conditions. That Labour Party promised/assured him that “the Party would conduct a primary election for me, at which I will be declared as the consensus candidate.”
He equally averred that surprisingly on August 5th he heard the news on the radio that Labour Party had purportedly conducted a gubernatorial primary election for Enugu State on August 4th. That he contacted the Enugu State secretariat of the party to verify the news and confirmed it to be true. That the Party held the primary “without any prior notice publicly published or given to me and thereby excluded me from participating in the primary, despite having issued me INEC Nomination form.”
He prayed the court that granting the reliefs sought “will enhance internal democracy in Labour Party and accord with the dictates of the rule of law.”
The motto of LP is ironically “Equal opportunity and social justice.” Nnaji’s membership card number 34479 was signed by both the national Chairman and Secretary. The Sentinel found the two signatures to be consistent with the signatures of the two national officers. The card showed that he paid his monthly subscription for May, June and July 2022. Documents examined by The Sentinel showed that Nnaji made the payment in installments from the corporate account of Odengene Air Shuttle Services Ltd. Domiciled in FCMB to LP’s United Bank for Africa account number 1021575052.
In its written address, Labour Party argues that the court lacks jurisdiction to entertain the matter on three grounds: that Nnaji has no locus standi to institute the action; non-joinder of Chijoke Edeoga as a necessary party to the suit and that the complaints of Nnaji in the suit borders on internal/domestic affairs of Labour Party.
The Party asserted that it did not wrongfully nominate its gubernatorial candidate for Enugu State for the 2023 election. That the conduct of primaries by the party is “its absolute internal affairs.” That the claimant woefully failed to provide evidence to support his case; that though Nnaji is a member of the party, he has no rights in the internal affairs of the party and that the party never promised any aspirant automatic ticket; rather, it provided a level playing field for all aspirants. The Party insists that it fixed the date of its primaries which was announced to all aspirants. It further asserts that the party has the right to sponsor any candidate of its choice and the grounds of Nnaji’s application will amount to the court intervening in the internal affairs of the party. The Party concluded that Nnaji’s intention was to mislead the court and waste its precious time and that his application “is neither supported by law nor logic.”
The Party noted that Nnaji is not seeking any relief against Chijioke Edeoga, Enugu State gubernatorial candidate of the party.
In further reply to Labour’s argument, Nnaji’s lawyer argued that LP infringed on Nnaji’s fundamental human rights by denying him fair hearing by purportedly conducting a primary election without inviting him after collecting money from him and issuing him with nomination form. “The law is trite that infringement/breach of the right to a fair hearing is unpardonable, has dire consequences and automatically donates locus standi to the party who has been such right.”
Justice Maha agreed with the submissions of Nnaji but stopped short of declaring him Enugu State candidate of Labour.
The case may not go on appeal as the the only party that can go on appeal is Labour. The Party may not be willing to go on appeal for internal reasons.
Edeoga cannot go on appeal as he was not a party in the case. Nnaji had cleverly excluded him as a party in the case. Attempts to join him as an interested party failed. The only viable option now appears to be to prepare and battle it out at the fresh primary.
