A attempt by the Labour Party (LP) faction led by Lamidi Apapa to remove Athan Achonu from the party’s governorship candidature for the Imo governorship election on Saturday was unsuccessful in the Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday.
In an ex-parte plea submitted by its attorney, Mohammed Mohammed, SAN, the group had requested an order of temporary injunction acknowledging its candidate, Joseph Ukaegbu, as the party’s legitimately elected standard bearer in the Imo governorship race.
In a brief decision, Justice Inyang Ekwo denied the plaintiffs’ request.
Instead, Mohammed was ordered by the judge to serve notice on the only defendant, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“I will not grant the motion, but I will permit you to adopt it.
The judge declared, “Let it be that they are not in court and that they have been served.”
Justice Ekwo claims that I have read the averments in favour of the motion as well as the prayers on it ex parte.
He postponed the hearing until Friday so that INEC could provide justification, saying, “I am of the opinion that I need to hear from the defendant (INEC) before making further Order on the motion.”
LP, Al Lawal Saleh (Acting National Secretary), Lamidi Apapa (Acting National Chairman), and Abayomi Arabambi (National Publicity Secretary) are among the plaintiffs.
The other plaintiffs are Chief Joseph Ikechukwu Ukaegbu, the candidate for governor of Imo State, Barr. Akingbade Oyelekan, the national youth leader, and C Anslem Eragbe, who is listed as the first through the seventh plaintiff, respectively.
The plaintiffs sued INEC as the only defendant in the move ex parte designated as FHC/ABJ/CS/1357/2023.
The order of interim injunction they had requested would prevent INEC from “recognising any other person or persons laying claim to the LP gubernatorial ticket in Imo governorship election scheduled for November 11, 2023 other than the plaintiff (Ukaegbu), who emerged from the primary conducted by the Lamidi Apapa-led National Working Committee (NWC) of LP on April 16.”
In addition, they requested an order of mandatory injunction ordering INEC to acknowledge, upload, and publicise Ukaegbu’s name as the LP candidate for governor of Imo until the motion on notice, which was filed concurrently with this ex-parte application, is heard and decided.
In addition, they requested a mandatory injunction order, directing INEC to upload the names of Apapa and Saleh as the acting national chairman and national secretary, respectively, along with the names of other Apapa-led NWC members, while the motion on notice, which was filed concurrently with this ex-parte application, was heard and decided.
