A former Minister for Information and Communications, Hon. Dasuki Salihu Nakande, has dragged Hon. Suleiman Yahaya Kwande, the All Progressives Congress (APC), and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), before a Jos division of the Federal High court ahead of the forth-coming general elections.
Nakande in a suit filed through a writ of summons, is suing Kwande, APC and INEC as the 1st, 2nd and 3rd defendants respectively, and is claiming that the 2nd Defendant’s unlawfully and illegally included a total number of 56 unqualified delegates in the list of legitimate delegates during the party’s primary election for Bassa/ Jos North Federal Constituency, held on the 7th day of December, 2014 in Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State .
The plaintiff averred that the 2nd defendant’s unlawful and illegal inclusion of the delegates in Buhit, Mafara, Kakkek, Kishika, Rimi and Jengre wards of Bassa Local Government Area in the list of its Local Government Executive Committee members to participate and support the 1st Defendant in the primary election and on account of which the 1st Defendant was purportedly elected as the winner and subsequently nominated as the Candidate of the 2nd Defendant for the 2015 general election.
He averred that the action of the 2nd defendant; “Contravenes sections 14(1) (a)(b) and Article 20 of the 2nd Defendant’s 2014 Guidelines for the nomination of candidates for public office conduct and its Constitution respectively.”
The plaintiff through his counsel Barrister Ahmad S. Garba, is seeking a declaration of the court to the effect that the 2nd defendant action is null, void and of no effect, to further declares that the 1st Defendant was purportedly elected as the winner and subsequently as a nominated Candidate of the 2nd Defendant for election into the House of Representatives, which deprives the Plaintiff of his right to be nominated as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress as unfair, unlawful, illegal and unconstitutional.
The plaintiff is also seeking for an order of the Court to set aside and declare as illegal, unlawful and invalid the portion of the 1st Defendant’s score in the results of the primary election which constitutes the votes of the “56 unqualified delegates in the 1st Defendant’s total supposedly scored votes,” an order of the Court to set aside the declaration and nomination of the 1st Defendant as the Candidate of the 2nd Defendant for the 1st Defendant’s “inability,” to score the highest number of valid votes during the said primary election.
He further sought for an order of the Court to set aside the sponsorship of the 1st Defendant as the Candidate of the 2nd Defendant, and to also declare that the Plaintiff is the valid and correct winner of the said primary election, to contest on the umbrella of the 2nd defendant.
An order of the Court to direct the 2nd Defendant to insert the name the Plaintiff or to substitute the 1st Defendant’s name with that of the Plaintiff and forward same to the 3rd Defendant and the court to also direct the 3rd Defendant to accept and recognize the name of the Plaintiff as the 2nd Defendant’s candidate for election to office as Member of the House of Representatives representing Bassa/Jos North Federal Constituency for the 2015 general elections.
Results of the primary indicated Kwande been the 1st defendant scored 402 votes as against Nakande’s 355.
The plaintiff had in the suit deposed that all the 56 unlawful and illegal delegates voted for the 1st Defendant and their votes were included in his total score at the election.
According to him, he had challenged the result of the election before instituting the court action at the Legislative Election Committee set up by the2nd Defendant to look into petitions arising from the House of Representatives primary election but the Committee has not been fair to him.
He further stated that he equally appealed his case to the Appeal Committee set up by the 2nd Defendant to entertain appeals in respect of the matter but the appeal committee has not also treated the Plaintiff’s matter fairly, he also contended that his additional witness were not around as at the time of preparing and filing of this case.
