Imasuagbon urges A’Court to disqualify Akpata from Edo poll

One of the Labour Party’s governorship aspirants in Edo State, Kenneth Imasuagbon, has headed to the Court of Appeal to further challenge the emergence of Olumide Akpata as the LP candidate for the September 21 governorship poll.

The Federal High Court in Benin had on July 15 dismissed Imasuagbon’s suit, wherein he sought Akpata’s disqualification.

Justice Babatunde Quadri ruled that the court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the suit because Imasuagbon failed to exhaust the internal dispute resolution mechanisms within the Labour Party before seeking legal action.

The judge declared that the lawsuit was premature and, therefore, dismissed it.

Not pleased, however, Imasuagbon has gone before the Court of Appeal, Benin Division, seeking to overturn Justice Quadri’s verdict affirming Akpata’s candidacy.

Joined as respondents in the appeal are Akpata, LP and the  Independent National Electoral Commission.

In his notice of appeal, Imansuangbon contended that “The learned trial judge erred in law and arrived at a perverse decision occasioning a miscarriage of justice to the plaintiff/appellant when he dismissed the plaintiff/appellant’s suit on the strength of the 1st defendant/respondent’s contention in his preliminary objection at the lower court.”

He also insisted that the judge was wrote to declare the suit statue-barred, “without considering Section 285(13A) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999(fifth alteration) act, (No. 10), 2023, to which the attention of the lower court was drawn at the hearing of the suit.”

He said, “A simple arithmetical computation of the 14 days provided for under the law, from the date of submission of INEC Form EC9 of the 1st and 2nd defendants/respondents (that’s 24th of March, 2024), to the 12th of April, 2024, when the plaintiff/appellant filed his suit, reveals a total number of 18 days in between.”

Imansuangbon, therefore, wants the appellate court to make “an order setting aside the decision of the lower court.”

He wants the court to order INEC to “immediately issue Certificate of Return to the plaintiff/appellant as the winner of the primary election organised on Friday, 23rd February 2024.”