The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Campaign Council, Enugu has hailed the court judgment of the Federal High Court, Enugu, upholding the primary elections that produced the Enugu PDP candidates for the 2023 governorship, National Assembly and State Assembly elections in the State.
The Council described it as victory for democracy in tandem with established previous judicial decisions and asked the opposition in the state to utilise the remaining campaign windows to market themselves to the people of Enugu state.
In a terse statement released by its Director of Public Communications and Spokesperson, Nana Ogbodo, on Friday, the Enugu State PDP Campaign Council said: “We welcome the judgment by the Honourable Court upholding the primary elections that produced our candidates in the 2023 general election.
“This is victory for democracy and in tandem with the provisions of our laws and decisions by both the Court of Appeal Court and the Supreme Court in matters of this nature.
“Now that the honourable court has laid this matter to rest, we must seize this opportunity to advice the opposition parties and candidates in Enugu State, who were hoping to secure electoral victory by subterfuge, technicalities, and propaganda to utilise the remaining campaign window to raise their manifestos and proceed to the nooks and crannies of the state to market them to the electorate as the PDP and its candidates have been doing since 2022.
“Meanwhile, we appreciate our party faithful and supporters for their standing with the party every step of the way and urge them to get their voters cards ready to go out there to vote for the PDP on the 25th of February and 11th March 2023”.
It is recalled that the Enugu North Senatorial District candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Mr. Chika Idoko, had sued the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), PDP and the party’s candidates in 2023 general election in the state claiming that the PDP primary elections contravened Section 77 of the Electoral Act, and, therefore, should be voided.
The suit marked FHC/EN/CS/217/202, Idoko also requested the court to punish the party vide the extant provisions of Section 84 of the same act by disqualifying all the party’s governorship, National Assembly, and State Assembly Elections.
But delivering judgment on the matter on Friday, Justice Folashade Giwa-Ogunbanjo struck out the suit upheld the PDP primary elections stating that not being a member of the PDP, the plaintiff lacked the locus standi to initiate an action into what is essentially an internal affair of the PDP.