Jerry Gana Asks Court To Disqualify Donald Duke As SDP Presidential Candidate

A presidential aspirant of the Social Democratic Party (SDP),
Professor Jerry Gana, has asked the FCT High Court in the Maitama
to disqualify Mr Donald Duke as the party’s presidential candidate
in the 2019 general elections.

Professor Gana, a former Minister of information, filed the suit
at the FCT High Court in the Maitama area of Abuja, asking it to
nullify the emergence of the former Cross River State governor as
the SDP candidate on the grounds that the process that produced him
violated the constitution of the party.

Mr Duke had polled 812 votes to defeat the former minister who
scored 611 votes at the SDP National Convention held at Old Parade
Ground in Abuja on October 7.

Professor Gana, however, claimed that the convention of the
party which ushered in Duke as the presidential candidate of the
party was illegal and flawed.

He said, “In the party’s constitution as provided under section
15(3), it was stipulated that the party will respect the principle
of rotation and zoning because it is important to building up of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

“The provision specifies that the position of national chairman
of SDP cannot come from the same part of Nigeria,” the presidential
aspirant added.

He also told the court that the party’s constitution provides
that if the chairman comes from the southern part of Nigeria, then
the presidential candidate must come from the northern region.

The case has been adjourned till November 13 due to the
indisposition of the presiding judge, Justice Husseini Baba
Yusuf.