Senator Umar Appeals Court Ruling Sacking Him As Niger East APC Candidate

Senator David Umar has said he will appeal a Federal High Court
ruling which sacked him as the candidate of the All Progressives
Congress (APC) for Niger East district.

The lawmaker described the judgement as erroneous and against
the weight of evidence.

Umar who briefed journalists in his residence in Minna said the
court has no power to nominate a candidate for a political party,
accusing the learned trial court of ignoring the evidence of the
defence and assuming the responsibility of nominating its preferred
candidate.

He said he has appealed the decision of the trial court because
it proceeded to hear and determine the matter without jurisdiction,
as the suit was filed in breach of the provisions of section 285
subsection 9 of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria as amended.

The lawmaker assured his constituents that the judgment is not
final and has neither sealed his fate nor truncated his
candidature, saying he remains the bona fide candidate of the APC
in the forthcoming Senatorial election in Niger east until the
position of the court of appeal and the supreme court on the matter
is obtained to the contrary.

A Federal High Court on Thursday set aside the nomination of
SenatorDavid Umar by the APC to the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) as the candidate to represent the party for the
office of Senator representing Niger-East Senatorial district at
the general elections slated for next week.

The presiding judge, Justice Folashade Ogunbanjo consequently
declared Mohammed Musa as the APC candidate for the district.

Justice Folashade Ogunbanjo in her judgment agreed that Mohammed
Musa was the declared winner of the APC primary election which held
on October 2, 2018.

Consequently, the court granted an order setting aside the
nomination and submission of the name of Senator Umar’s name by the
party to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as
its candidate.

Justice Ogunbanjo further declared that the plaintiff, having
secured the highest number of votes at the primary election which
was conducted by APC and monitored by the electoral body.

Musa had challenged the party’s powers to allegedly handpick
Senator Umar replacing him as its candidate in the district.

Listed as defendants in the suit filed by Musa are the APC, INEC
and Umar.

Justice Ogunbanjo also granted all the reliefs in the suit filed
by Wole Olanikpekun (SAN) on behalf of Umar.