the ruling party All Progressives Congress (APC) says it will proceed with its special convention without statutory delegates despite the ruling of the Federal High Court in Kano.
The party will hold the convention to elect its presidential candidate for the 2023 elections from June 6-8.
The court held on Friday that statutory delegates can participate in political party primaries in accordance with the Nigerian constitution.
Statutory delegates include district councillors, local government presidents and their deputies, governors and their deputies, president and vice president.
Others are senators and members of the House of Representatives and state assemblies, and party chairmen in the 774 local government areas.
The judge, AM Liman, passing sentence in a lawsuit filed by Masijde El-Jibrin Gogowa, legislative assistant to Femi Gbajabiamila, Speaker of the House of Representatives; Habibu Sani and Bilyaminu Shinkafi, said that Section 223 of the Nigerian constitution and the APC constitution “allow the statutory Delegation (sic) to vote at a convention, congress or meeting”.
In the lawsuit filed on May 24, the plaintiffs listed as defendants the president of the Senate, the national president of APC, the president of the House of Representatives, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
APC spokesman Felix Morka told PREMIUM TIMES that the party will proceed to its convention using the elected delegates as provided in section 84(8) of the electoral law.
Morka said that APC was not a party to the case, as only the national president, Abdulahi Adamu, was included in the lawsuit.
He noted that Mr. Adamu is not an APC.
“We are proceeding with our convention as planned, as originally planned,” Morka said by phone.
When asked about the court’s decision, he said: “What court case? Was the party (APC) a party to the case? Go see the parts of the case. APC is not a party to the case. The national president was listed: the national president is not a legal person, APC is the legal person. No one sued APC over that, so why bother with the court’s ruling?”
Background
In the new Electoral Law, the legislator had excluded statutory delegates from the people who can vote in national congresses and conventions.
Article 84(8) establishes that “a political party that adopts the system of indirect primaries for the election of its candidate must clearly establish in its statutes and regulate the procedure for the democratic election of the delegates to vote in the convention, the congress and the meeting. ”
On May 10, the Senate approved an amendment to the Election Law after consideration of the bill sponsored by Senate Vice President Ovie Omo-Agege. The bill was quickly passed.
Leading the debate, Mr. Omo-Agege pointed out that the initial section of the bill was a mistake on the part of the legislature.
Article 84(8) of the Electoral Law does not provide for the participation of what are generally known as statutory delegates in conventions, congresses or meetings of political parties, he explained.
“Article 84(8) provides for the participation of elected delegates in conventions, congresses or meetings of political parties held for the nomination of candidates.
“This was an unintentional error and can only be corrected with this amendment.”
The next day, the House of Representatives agreed with the Senate in approving the bill. The bill was forwarded to President Muhammadu Buhari for his approval. However, no comments have been received.
The APC has already approved elected delegates, three per local government area, to participate in the presidential primaries. The ruling party has also held its other primaries, state and legislative, without statutory delegates.
The main opposition party, the PDP, also used elected delegates for its presidential primaries, which resulted in Atiku Abubakar.
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