Court sacks Delta North senator-elect, Nwoboshi | Nairalaw

The Federal High Court Abuja on Wednesday, sacked Sen. Peter
Nwaoboshi, the senator-elect for Delta North Senatorial
District.

Justice Ahmed Mohammed gave the order while delivering judgment
in a suit filed by Mr Ned Nwoko challenging the election of
Nwaoboshi as the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the
Oct. 2, 2018 primaries of the party held in Delta.

The court held that Nwaoboshi, a serving senator, was not the
duly elected candidate of the PDP in the primary election.

Justice Mohammed ordered the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) to publish the name of Nwoko as PDP candidate,
having established before the court that he scored the highest
number of votes in the said primary election.

The court also barred Nwaoboshi from parading himself as the
candidate of the PDP for the senatorial zone.

Nwoko through his counsel, Mr Ahmed Raji, SAN, had dragged INEC,
the PDP and the Nwaoboshi to court praying for an order to prohibit
the electoral body from publishing the name of Nwaoboshi as the
candidate for Delta North Senatorial District.

He also asked for a separate order compelling PDP to forward his
name to INEC as the authentic candidate of the PDP for the
senatorial area.

In his suit predicated on seven grounds, 20 paragraphs affidavit
evidence and five exhibits, Nwoko claimed that he was screened and
cleared to contest the primary election by the PDP electoral
committee.

He also claimed that at the end of the election, he scored 453
votes to beat Nwaoboshi to second position who scored 405 votes
while another contestant, Paul Osaji came third with 216 votes.

Nwoko told the court that he was surprised that the PDP
jettisoned the result of the primary election and forwarded the
name of Nwaobosi to INEC as its candidate for the senatorial
district.

He further alleged that all efforts to redress the injustice
through the PDP appeal panel proved abortive.

In their defence, the three respondents; INEC, PDP and Nwaoboshi
urged the court to dismiss the suit on the grounds that it was not
filed within time allowed by law.

They said that based on that ground, the suit was state barred
and also constituted an abuse of court process, the plaintiff
having filed a similar suit at the FCT High Court which was struck
out upon its withdrawal.

Justice Mohammed after reviewing the claims and counter claims
of parties, held that the case of the plaintiff was not status
barred and did not also amounted to forum shopping as alleged by
the defendants.

The judge held that Nwoko was entitled to his claims and prayers
having established that he emerged victorious in the PDP Delta
North Senatorial primary election of Oct. 2, 2018