Appeal Court Uphold Zamfara APC Candidates For 2019 Elections

The Court of Appeal in Abuja as faulted the decision of  the Federal High Court which uphold the exclusion of the All Progressives Congress candidates in Zamfara State from the forthcoming general elections.

The lower court presided by Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu had on January 25 ruled that INEC was right to have excluded the APC from the elections. The court said the primaries that produced the candidates was flawed.

Contrarily to a ruling on Friday, a three-member panel led by Justice Abdul Aboki described the lower court ruling as an “aberration”.

The appeal court agreed with the lawyers representing the APC who argued that the motion brought before the lower court was filed outside of the allowed time.

According to the judges, who affirmed that the application ought to have been brought 14 days from the date which the alleged electoral infraction occurred.

The filing of the matter after 14 days at the lower court, made it impossible for the lower court to have jurisdiction on the matter, the Appeal court ruled.

“The suit is hereby struck out for lack of want of jurisdiction on the part of the lower court. The judgment of the lower court is hereby set aside,” the court ruled late Friday.

Details later….