Moments ago, the Court of Appeal in Abuja declared former
Governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke as the authentic presidential
flag-bearer of the Social Democratic Party, SDP.
The appellate court, in a unanimous judgement by a three-man
panel of Justices, vacated a judgement of the High Court of the Federal Capital
Territory, which had on December 14, 2018, voided the emergence of Duke as
SDP’s candidate for the 2019 Presidential Election.
The High Court had maintained that Duke’s emergence was in
violation of a zoning arrangement the party adopted with a view to ensuring
that a President and National Chairman of the party do not emerge from the same
Geopolitical Zone.
Consequently, the lower court voided all the votes that were
ascribed to Duke who was declared winner of the primary election, on the
premise that he is from the Southern part of the country as the incumbent
National Chairman of the party. It declared Prof. Jerry Gana who came second at
the primary contest, being the only candidate from the Northern part of the
country with the highest valid votes cast.
However, in its judgement, the appellate court held that the
high court judgment was “perverse and wrong”. It held that the lower court’s
verdict was a violation of Duke’s right to freedom from discrimination, adding
that Gana was bound by an undertaken he signed to support any candidate that
emerged from the presidential primary contest.
The appellate court described the purported zoning formula
as “a mere political arrangement” to help SDP to win elections, saying it had
nothing to do with the qualification of a candidate. It held that Gana’s
complaint was not that there was any violation of the Electoral Act, but that
Duke who is from the Southern part, was not qualified to contest the
presidential election. “Such a complaint does not disclose a cause of action”,
Justice Abdul Aboki who read the lead judgement held.
The appellate court resolved all the issues against Gana and
ordered him to pay N500, 000.00 cost to all the five Appellants in the matter.
