A Rivers State High Court in Port Harcourt on Wednesday nullified the nomination of Mr Tonye Cole as the governorshipcandidate of the All Progressives Congress in the state.
The annulment came on the heels of the court pronouncement that declared that all actions taken by the Ojukaye Flag-Amachree-led executive of the state APC, including the indirect governorship primary conducted by a faction of the party led the Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, had been set aside.
The court presided over by Justice Chiwendu Nwogu, in the Suit PHC/78/2018 filed by 23 APC members, held that the ruling was hinged on the flagrant disobedience of court orders.
Nwogu declared that the ward congresses of Rivers APC were illegal, adding that the congresses were not conducted according to the APC guidelines and constitution.
“The purported ward and local government congresses held on the 19th, 20th and 21st of May 2018 are null and void and of no effect. The application of the respondent in the motion on notice filed on September 19th is intended to arrest the judgment of the Court to be delivered today,” he said.
Justice Nwogu described all actions taken by the APC in the state while the suit was pending as illegal and unconstitutional.
He said those who purchased nomination forms for the ward congresses were entitled to contest the ward congresses of May 19, 2018, but were unjustly excluded by the state APC.
He added, “The rule by might must be checked by the rule of law. We must restore the hope of the common man in the justice system.”
Speaking after the judgement, Henry Bello, counsel for the 23 members of the APC, said the judgment was an affirmation that nobody was above the law, no matter how highly placed.
But counsel for the APC, Onyekwere Asundah, vowed to appeal the judgment, stating that the court erred by assuming jurisdiction over the matter.
Meanwhile, a faction of the Rivers State Chapter of the APC has called on its supporters to remain calm despite the ruling of the court that nullified its executive.
State Publicity Secretary of the APC, Mr Chris Finebone, said, “We wish to inform APC members and sympathisers of our great party in Rivers State and across Nigeria to remain calm as we are well prepared in anticipation of today’s ruling and have, therefore, done the needful.”
