Court upholds Oduah’s election

The Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja, on Wednesday, struck out a pre-election suit filed by Margery Okadigbo challenging the election of Senator Stella A. Oduah as the Senator representing Anambra North Senatorial District.

Trial judge, Justice Adeniyi Ademola, said the legal action instituted by the Margery Okadigbo following the controversy that surrounded the Peoples Democratic Party primary in Anambra State, was incompetent.

Okadigbo had challenged the primary election that produced Oduah as the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2015 Senatorial election.

Delivering judgement in the legal action, Justice Ademola held that Section 31 of the Electoral Act, 2010 and 251 of the 1999 Constitution are categorical and unambiguous to the effect that the primary election is an internal affairs of a political party and should not be enquired into by any court of law.

The Judge held that he had carefully studied the case of Senator Okadigbo and found that there was no dispute in the fact that the issue in contention was the PDP Primary election of December 7, 2014, conducted by Mr.  Simon Izuora and which produced Oduah as the candidate of the Party for the Anambra North.

Justice Ademola further held that since the law was emphatic that no court should enquire into any primary election of a political party, any attempt to go beyond that level would amount to an exercise in futility.

He, therefore, upheld the preliminary objection raised by PDP against the case of Senator Okadigbo and consequently struck out the case on the ground that his court has no jurisdiction to entertain the suit.