The Federal High Court’s decision to disqualify 14 New Nigeria Peoples Party candidates for the House of Assembly in Rivers State was overturned on Tuesday by the Court of Appeal in Port Harcourt.
The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, filed a lawsuit alleging that the NNPP candidates did not follow the Electoral Act in the conduct of their primaries, and Justice Turaki Mohammed of the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt, dismissed the NNPC House of Assembly candidates.
However, the three-member appeals panel ruled unanimously that the PDP lacks locus standi to challenge another political party over party primaries.
Additionally, the panel of the Appeal Court determined that the Federal High Court lacked the authority to hear the case in the first place and ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to include the 14 NNPP candidates for the House of Assembly.
Lanson Igwe, a lawyer for the NNPP and a candidate for the state’s House of Assembly in the Emohua Constituency, claimed that the ruling was a victory for his party and a setback for the state’s dominant party.
