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The Court of Appeal in Abuja, on Friday, ordered the reinstatement of Chijioke Edeoga after confirming him as the authentic gubernatorial candidate of the Labour Party, LP, in Enugu State.
The Eastern Updates recalls that Justice Evelyn Maha of the Federal High Court, Abuja, had set aside Edeoga’s nomination consequent to a suit by Everest Nnaji, who had claimed that he was excluded from the primary election.
However, in its judgement, the Appeal Court set aside the earlier judgment and affirmed Edeoga as the true candidate of the party.
The Court of Appeal adopted the four issues formulated by Barrister Alexander Obodo SAN, counsel to the Labour Party.
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On the first issue, the Court agreed with the submission of Alex Obodo SAN that since Everest Nnaji did not participate in the primary election, he lacked the locus standi to challenge the outcome and that the lower Court should have dismissed his suit.
The Court also criticized Justice Maha of the Federal High Court for going on a voyage of discovery. It wondered how Justice Maha could have arrived at such a strange decision given the fact that the Supreme Court had passed several judgments on the issue of who is an aspirant entitled to bring an action.
The Court ruled that even the respondent’s brief filed before it by Everest Nnaji’s lawyer was incompetent, having been filed out of time.
Therefore, it allowed the appeal, set aside the judgment of Justice Maha and affirmed Hon Chijioke Edeoga as the authentic candidate of the Labour Party for the Enugu State gubernatorial election.
