Court Restrains INEC, Lawan, Gbajabiamila On Participation Of Statutory Delegates
The Court of Appeal in Abuja has granted an order of interim injunction restraining the Senate President, the Speaker of the House of Reps, INEC and three others from executing, enforcing or relying on the judgment delivered by Justice Mohammed Liman of a Federal High Court, Kano, on the 3rd of June, 2022.
The Appeal Court restrained them following an exparte application filed by the National Chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Adamu Abdullahi.
The three others are Senator Mas’ud Doguwa, Hon. Habibu Sani, Hon Bilyamimu Shinkafi. All six are jointly listed as respondents to the suit.
On the 3rd of June, Justice Liman sitting in the Kano division of the court had held that statutory delegates can participate in primaries of political parties in accordance with the Nigerian constitution.
Justice Liman reached this decision while giving judgement in a suit filed by Doguwa, a legislative aide to Femi Gbajabiamila, Speaker of the House of Representatives; Habibu Sani and Bilyaminu Shinkafi.
But the Court of Appeal on Monday restrained all the respondents and in particular, Doguwa, Sani and Shinkafi from relying on that judgment or doing anything inconsistent with the rights of the applicant with respect to organizing/conducting the convention of the APC in any manner the party may deem fit to so doing in accordance with its extant laws pending the determination of the suit seeking a stay of execution of the judgment of the 3rd of June.
The three-member panel of the Court of Appeal made up of Justice Simon Tsamani, Justice Stephen Adah and Justice Elfreda Williams-Dawodu, also granted leave to the applicant to serve the notice of appeal, the record of appeal, and all other processes on the 6 respondents. It adjourned to June the 9th for the hearing of the application.
