Appeal court overturns Rivers’ decision to fire all APC candidates

Thursday, an appeals court in Port Harcourt overturned the decision of the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, led by Justice Emmanuel Obile, to disqualify all of the All Progressives Congress candidates for the 2023 elections.

The APC and its candidates went to the Appeal Court to appeal Justice Obile’s decision in the case brought by George Orlu and five other people.

The lead judge of the three-person panel hearing the appeal, Justice Muhammed Lawal Shuaibu, ruled that George Orlu and five other people had not used all available internal party channels before filing the lawsuit.

The court also decided that the appeal’s respondents didn’t have a case because they hadn’t been to the APC conference.

The panel stated that it was impossible for the Federal High Court Judge to have declined to join the APC candidates who are parties to the lawsuit.

Justice Lawal Shuaibu also said that political party issues and delegate nominations are up to the parties themselves and that the Federal High Court has no right to hear the case in the first place.

In the appeal, the panel penalized the respondents with a sum of N500,000.