An Appeal Court sitting in Port Harcourt on Thursday set aside the judgment of the Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt presided over by Justice Emmanuel Obile which sacked all the candidates of the All Progressives Congress in the 2023 elections.
The APC and its candidates had approached
the Appeal Court to challenge a judgement of Justice Obile in the matter filed
by one George Orlu and 5 others.
The three-man panel of the appeal in its
judgment delivered by the lead judge, Justice Muhammed Lawal Shuaibu said
George Orlu and 5 others did not exhaust the internal party mechanisms before
instituting the suit.
The court also held that the respondents in
the Appeal did not participate in the congress of the APC and therefore did not
have any cause for the action.
The panel said it was inconceivable for the
Federal High Court Judge not to have joined the candidates of APC who are
interested parties in the suit.
Justice Lawal Shuaibu also said the
nomination of delegates and political parties’ issues are internal party
affairs and that the Federal High Court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain
the suit in the first place.
The panel awarded the sum of N500,000
against the respondents in the appeal.