The All Progressives Congress, APC, House of Assembly candidates in Rivers State can now run in the 2023 general elections with no obstacles in their way.
This comes after an Appeal Court in Port Harcourt overturned the Federal High Court’s ruling that dismissed 16 All Progressives Congress candidates for the House of Assembly in Rivers State.
In a case brought by the People’s Democratic Party against APC House of Assembly candidates, Justice Turaki Muhammed of the Federal High Court dismissed 16 of the party’s candidates for alleged non-compliance with the Electoral Act but permitted 16 other state house of assembly candidates to run for office.
But a three-person panel of the Appeal Court ruled unanimously against the PDP’s request to throw out the remaining 16 House of Assembly candidates.
READ ASLO: I didn’t meet with any PDP G-5 governors in London – Tinubu
The court determined that the PDP lacked locus standi to contest the APC’s primary election.
The Federal High Court lacks jurisdiction to hear the case in the first place, the court ruled in the ruling read by the lead justice, Justice Olabode Adegbehingbe.
The Appeal Court said that a political party has the only right to choose its own candidates.
The court further ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to include all APC candidates for state houses of assembly on the ballot.
