An aspirant for the Nasarawa/Toto Federal Constituency on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, Mohammed Al-Basir, on Wednesday, dragged the party to a Federal High Court sitting in Lafia over his non-declaration as winner of the recently conducted primary election of the party.
The aspirant also dragged to court the incumbent House of Representatives member, Ari Abdulmumuni, who also participated in the election and was declared winner.
Speaking to journalists in Lafia on Wednesday, shortly after the matter was adjourned, Senior Advocate of Nigeria and counsel for the plaintiff, Mathew Bukaa, claimed that his client won the primary election held on May 29, 2022.
He said, “My client won the primary election for the Nasarawa/Toto Federal Constituency and the party cannot arrogate to itself the powers of the court.
“If there is a declaration for winner in an election, it is only the court that can upturn the result.
“Since there was a primary election and a winner emerged, the party does not have the right to conduct another primary for the same position.”
Bukaa maintained that the plaintiff had been declared winner, therefore, they wanted the court to uphold that declaration because it had not been set aside by any court.
Meanwhile, the trial judge, Justice Afolabi Nehizena, adjourned the case to August 3, 2022, to enable the counsel for the defendants file the necessary responses before the next adjourned date.
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