Justice Okuwobi of the Ikeja Division of the Lagos State High Court in a landmark judgment delivered on Friday held that no primaries were held on 27 May, 2017 in respect of the Odi Olowo Local Council Development Area, LCDA.
In a case brought by Hakeem Abolaji Saka against the All Progressives Congress, APC and Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission, LASIEC, Saka had prayed the Court among other things that no primaries were held on the 27th May in respect of the Odi Olowo APC LCDA Chairmanship office for the forthcoming LG elections slated for 22nd July, 2017.
He also prayed the court that any primaries held were contrary to Article 20(i),(ii),(iii )&(iv) of the Party’s Constitution and that the State Chapter of the party did not hold primaries as there were no delegates, while names of imposed candidates were drawn up and returned with a view to sending to LASIEC (2nd Defendant) as candidates of the party.
He further prayed the court that any list of returned APC candidates be decalred null and void as they did not emerge from democratic primaries as provided for by the party’s constitution.
At the hearing of the case, APC, through the office of the National Legal Adviser had informed the Court of its warning to the State Chapter to obey the provisions of the party’s constitution by organising delegates election and to eschew imposition.
The party also informed the Court of a similar warning to the State Chapter from the National Secretariat to ensure internal democracy by ensuring democratic primaries were held for all aspirants.
But the said warnings fell on deaf ears as the State Chapter was bent in imposing candidates contrary to sound advice.
Midway into the proceedings on Wednesday, when judgment was initially scheduled to have been delivered, a mild drama occurred as One Razaq Ajala who claimed to have won the APC Chairmanship primaries for Odi Olowo LCDA brought an application to be joined as a party to the suit and that the suit be heard all over again.
But in a ruling which preceded the judgment, the Court dismissed the application of Ajala as lacking in merit and brought to frustrate the judgment in Saka’s case which had been argued and reserved for judgment.
On the substantive suit, the court held that the concept of centralized primaries was unknown to the APC Constitution; that no primaries were held in Odi Olowo LCDA and that any list of returned candidates purported to have arisen from the 27th of May 2017, is null and void.
The court also held that no APC primaries took place on the 27th of May, 2017 as the whole exercise ended in a fiasco and ordered the APC to immediately conduct fresh LG/LCDA primaries forthwith.
