Court orders substitution of PDP gov candidate in Borno

Gambo Lawan

Few weeks to the governorship election in Borno State, a Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to remove Alhaji Mohammed Imam as the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the state.

Justice Ahmed Mohammed in his judgment on a suit challenging the submission of Iman’s name to the INEC, declared Alhaji Gambo Lawan as the valid governorship candidate of the party in Borno State.

The court held that Lawan had proved to the court that he contested and validly won the party’s primary conducted on December 11, 2014 at Arewa Suites in Abuja.

It held that under Section 87(4) of the Electoral Act, a political party was under obligation to forward the name of aspirants with the highest votes to the INEC as its candidate for the purpose of an election.

Justice Mohammed, who had in his judgment earlier dismissed separate notices of preliminary objections filed by Iman, the PDP and its National Executive Committee, held that the plaintiff had reasonable cause to institute the suit due to the failure of the party to forward his name to INEC as its governorship candidate.

The PDP had said no primary election was held in Borno State for the purpose of presenting a govenorship candidate to INEC. INEC too had said in its affidavit that it did not monitor any governorship primary conducted by the PDP in the state.

But  the judge held that the PDP failed to substantiate its submission with documentary evidence, to show that the party had resolved to present a consensus governorship candidate and avoid conducting a primary in view of the security situation in Borno State.

The judge held that contrary to PDP’s claim, the plaintiff tendered before the court, the date and results of the primary election of the party conducted in Abuja and endorsed by the PDP’s National Chairman, National Secretary, National Organising Secretary and the Returning officer.

He declared in his judgment that the development ruled  out PDP’s submission that there was no primary election for the purpose of electing the party’s governorship candidate in the state.

“In view of the above, I find merit in the plaintiff’s suit and I hereby grant all the reliefs in the originating summons of the plaintiff,” the Judge held.

Lawan had  claimed, in a 31-paragraph affidavit filed in support of his suit, FHC/ABJ/CS/1123/2014, that he purchased the expression of interest form from the PDP at N11m, stood for primary along with eight others and won the majority votes.

He claimed that the chairman of the panel that conducted the primary, Dr. Pius Sinebe, issued him with result sheet upon which his name was forwarded to PDP headquarters in

Abuja.