Emmanuel Adeyemi, Lokoja
A High Court sitting in Lokoja, Kogi State capital has ruled that the People’s Democratic Party has no candidate in the November 16, 2019 governorship election in the state.
Justice John Olorunfemi of the state High Court 4 in a ruling on Thursday, declared that the primary conducted on 3rd September 2019 which produce Engineer Musa Wada as the flag bearer of PDP was fraught with irregularities such that there was an hour long downpour and sporadic gunshots which led to the delegates scampering for safety.
He, therefore, said that such party primary cannot be said to be free, fair and credible enough to produce a candidate.
Abubakar Ibrahim Idris, the son of a former governor had dragged the PDP and Wada to court challenging the candidature of Engineer Musa Wada as the flag bearer of the party, urged the court to decline him as the rightful candidate.
But the judge in his ruling said: “Neither the claimant, Alhaji Abubakar Idris, nor the defendant, Engineer Musa Wada can lay claim to be the authentic flag bearer of the People’s Democratic Party since the primary was inconclusive.”
He pointed out that the claimant who averred that he would have won the primary conducted by the 1st defendant if the missing votes which belonged to him were added to his votes, could not convinced the court to deliver judgement in his favour.
Similarly, Justice Olorunfemi further submitted that the second defendant could not also convinced the court that he actually won the party primary, which was marred with rancour and acrimony, arising from pandemonium, due to sporadic gunshots, that compelled the participants to scamper for safety.
He, therefore, ruled that after thorough diligent consideration of the suit before it, PDP had no candidate in the last governorship election in the state.