Court nullifies APC governorship primary election in Adamawa

A Federal High Court in Yola, Adamawa State, on Friday, nullified the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary in the state.

Aishatu Binani was elected as the party’s governorship candidate in the now-nullified primary held on 26 May. She scored 430 votes to defeat her closest rival, Nuhu Ribadu, who scored 288 votes.

The trial judge, Abdulaziz Anka, also declined a plea for the party to hold a fresh primary election, which effectively means the party will have no candidate in the election, the Punch newspaper reported

Mr Ribadu had approached the court alleging irregularities in the conduct of the primary.

The court held that the primary was not in compliance with the 2022 Electoral Act, the nation’s constitution, and the party guidelines.

The judge said the nomination of Mrs Binani was in clear contravention of Section 85 of the Electoral Act because there was “manifest overvoting” during the primary.

“My findings are that there’s non-compliance to the Electoral Act, as well as party guidelines and the constitution because there was manifest overvoting, which has been proved beyond a reasonable doubt, the newspaper quoted the judge as saying.

“The first defendant (APC) cannot field a candidate for the 2023 general elections; the primary election is invalid, and the court, therefore, sees the return of Aishatu Ahmed Binani as unlawful. The plea for fresh elections is hereby refused," the judge added.

The judge said the parties in the suit are at liberty to appeal the judgement within 30 days if they are not satisfied with the ruling.