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The Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal, on Thursday, restored Senator Peter Nwaoboshi of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as the Senator-elect for Delta North Senatorial District.
The appellate court, in a unanimous decision by a three-man panel of Justices, voided the judgment of the Federal High Court in Abuja that sacked Nwaoboshi on the premise that he was not validly nominated by the PDP.
Justice Ahmed Mohammed of the High Court had in a judgement on April 3, held that Nwaoboshi was not validly nominated in the primary election the PDP held in Delta State on October 2, 2018.
The trial court said it was satisfied that the primary poll was won by Prince Ned Nwoko, who it ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to immediately recognize as the authentic candidate of the PDP for the Senatorial District.
Besides, the court ordered Senator Nwaoboshi who is currently occupying the seat, to stop parading himself as candidate of the PDP for the Senatorial District.
Meanwhile, dissatisfied with the judgment of the high court, the embattled lawmaker, approached the appellate court to set it aside.
In his six grounds of appeal, Nwaoboshi contended that the verdict was entered against him in error.
According to him, the trial judge overreached himself by deciding the suit on the basis of highly contradicted and conflicting evidence, particularly as the ballot papers upon which the trial judge based his judgment were seriously controverted and ballot counting was impossible without calling a witness.
He urged the appellate court to hold that the trial judge erred in law when he held that the suit was not caught by the 14 days rule in section 285(9) of the Fourth Alternation to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), as the primary election, subject matter of the suit, was conducted on October 2, 2018 and the 14 days time allowed started running on the same October 2, 2018 when the primary election took place.
The appellant further asked for the verdict to be nullified on the ground that the trial judge erred in law when he assumed jurisdiction to entertain the suit despite that it had become statute barred.
Insisting that he won the PDP primary poll, Nwaoboshi, said whereas he got a total of 506 votes, the Plaintiff, Nwoko, got 453 votes, while another aspirant, Paul Osagie secured 216 votes to come third.
Aside Nwaoboshi’s appeal marked CA/A/318/2019, the PDP also lodged a separate appeal marked CA/A/319/2019, to challenge the high court’s judgement.
Meantime, in its lead verdict that was prepared and delivered by Justice Mohammed Idris, the appellate court, said it had after “a forensic and microscopic examination” of all the affidavit evidence that was brought before it by the parties, concluded that the high court erred.
The appellate court held that as at December 17, 2018, when Nwoko went to court to challenge the outcome of PDP’s primary election, his suit had become status barred by virtue of section 285(9) of the 4th Alteration to the 1999 Constitution that prescribed 14 days for filing of pre-election matters.
It held that the trial court had no jurisdiction to entertain Nwoko’s suit.
