Appeal Court Didn’t Clear Zamfara APC For Elections, Marafa’s Lawyer, Ozekhome SAN, Insists

Senator Kabir Marafa’s faction of the All Progressives Congress
in Zamfara State said on Friday that the Thursday judgment of the
Court of Appeal in Abuja did not clear the party to present
candidates for the general elections in the state.

The group said in a statement issued by their lawyer, Mike
Ozekhome (SAN), that, “The assertion that the Court of Appeal had
cleared the way for APC to participate in the polls which start on
Saturday with the National Assembly elections on Saturday was
false.”

The rival Governor Abdul’aziz Yari-led faction of the party in
the state had celebrated the Thursday’s Court of Appeal’s verdict
which set aside the earlier judgment of the Abuja Division of the
Federal High Court on the crisis.

The Court of Appeal’s pronouncement, according to the Yari-led
faction leaves the Zamfara State High Court’s judgment which upheld
the primaries conducted by the APC in the state as the only
subsisting court order on the crisis.

But Ozekhome said on Friday that the Court of Appeal only set
aside the judgment of the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court
on the grounds of lack of jurisdiction but refused to make any
order asking the Independent National Electoral Commission to
accept the party’s candidate.

The lawyer argued that in the absence of any specific order by
the Court of Appeal, it implied that the judgment of the Federal
High Court in Abuja, validating INEC’s decision not to accept the
candidates of the APC in the state succeeded in part.

Insisting that INEC was legally bound to stick to its original
decision not to accept the party’s candidate, Ozekhome said there
were pending appeals on the matter at the Court of Appeal in
Sokoto.

He stated, “INEC is hereby reminded that there exists in
addition to the above legal obstacles, a subsisting appeal which
arose from the Zamfara State High Court judgment which is still
extant and pending before the Sokoto division of the Court of
Appeal , in Appeal no: CA/S/32/2019.

“In any event, the judgment of the Federal High Court , going by
the judgment of the Court of Appeal still partially succeeded,
since the Court of Appeal refused to make any clear mandatory
orders directing INEC to receive any candidates from Yari group for
the purpose of Saturday’s elections.

“INEC is therefore obligated and legally bound to stand by its
earlier well founded position that APC, having never conducted any
primaries in Zamfara state, have no candidates in the forthcoming
elections in Zamfara state, except the presidential election.

“Any other act by INEC in fielding any candidates from the
Governor Yari’s group or the “G-8” group will be illegal,
unconstitutional, null, void and of no effect whatsoever.”

INEC had insisted that it would not accommodate APC’s candidates
in the forthcoming polls due to the party’s alleged failure to
conduct valid primaries in the state.

The Zamfara State High Court however ruled in its judgment that
the party held valid primaries, contrary to a pronouncement of the
Federal High Court in Abuja, that the party did not conduct any
valid primaries.

In the face of the two conflicting judgments from the courts of
coordinate jurisdiction, INEC insisted that it would stick to its
original position that the APC failed to conduct valid primaries in
the state and therefore would not be allowed to field candidate for
the polls.

The Court of Appeal’s judgment set aside the Federal High
Court’s judgment on the grounds of lack of jurisdiction on
Thursday.

But Ozekhome said the judgment had not permitted APC to present
candidates in the state.

He added, “The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja on February 21,
2019, dismissed the appeal filed by APC challenging the judgment of
Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu (of the Federal High Court in Abuja), which
had affirmed INEC’s stand that the APC did not conduct any primary
election in Zamfara State and that INEC was right to have rejected
APC’s candidates from Zamfara state.

“The dismissal followed an application by APC to withdraw the
appeal. The application was granted and the appeal dismissed
accordingly.

“Next was the cross appeal filed by Yari & Co on
jurisdiction and cause of action.

“The judgment given by the Court of Appeal clearly stated that
the appeal partially succeeded and went ahead to set aside the
judgment of the lower court on jurisdiction only, but refused to
grant the cause of action component of the appeal.

“By this, the Court of Appeal refused to grant INEC any order to
revive candidates of the APC from Zamfara state.

“The cross Appeal therefore partially failed because, from the
onset, APC had a complaint against INEC only. Governor Yari A.A had
applied to join the case voluntarily.

“And Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu, in her judgment held that APC did
not seek any reliefs against the second to 6th defendants” (i.e,
Governor Yari and co).

“Therefore, considering the fact that Governor Yari and co did
not file any counter claim or cross Appeal against the APC’s suit,
she had gone ahead to hold that Yari & Co. have nothing to add
to this case.”