Thursday, 28th March 2024
To guardian.ng
Search
News  

Court reserves ruling on jurisdiction over suit by Kente against Ishaku till June 3

By Charles Akpeji, Jalingo
23 June 2015   |   4:42 am
THE Federal High Court sitting in Jalingo, Taraba State, has deferred ruling till July 3 whether the court has the jurisdiction to entertain the case instituted by the governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Chief David Sabo Kente, in the last election against the governor of the state, Darius D. Ishaku. The ruling,…

court.jpg-citynewsTHE Federal High Court sitting in Jalingo, Taraba State, has deferred ruling till July 3 whether the court has the jurisdiction to entertain the case instituted by the governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Chief David Sabo Kente, in the last election against the governor of the state, Darius D. Ishaku.

The ruling, which was earlier fixed for June 22, 2015 was yesterday re-scheduled by the presiding judge, Justice D.O. Okorowo.

In the originating summons filed by SDP candidate through his lawyer, Abbas Ajiya, Kente seeks to know whether for the purpose of selecting candidate for the just-concluded governorship primaries for the state for the 2015 general election, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) can adopt a procedure other than that the one stipulated in the Electoral Act 2010 and the electoral guidelines for primary elections.

Kente, a former PDP member, who left the PDP for SDP following the refusal of the party (PDP) to conduct the party’s governorship primary election in the state rather than at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja, said he decided to reach out to the court to declare that the defendant who is now the number one citizen of the state and the party cannot adopt a procedure for its primary elections other than that provided under Section 87 (4) of the Electoral Act 2012.

He also said he wants the court to direct the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from accepting and recognising or dealing “in any manner with the first defendant as the candidate of the second defendant (PDP) for the 2015 governorship election in the state.

Kente said he wants the court to make a declaration that the second defendant having not conducted a governorship primary in the state in accordance with the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended), it should be declared that the party has no governorship in the said election.

0 Comments