The Presidential Candidate of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, Donald Duke, has said he will appeal the judgement of the federal high court, Abuja, voiding his candidature.
The court had on Friday declared Jerry Gana, a former Minister of Information, as the presidential candidate of the SDP.
While Duke was declared the presidential candidate of the party after the primary election held in October 2018, having polled over 800 votes, the court held that by the constitution of the party, Duke was not qualified to vie for the post and so declared Gana, who came in second after Duke, with over 600 votes the winner.
Gana had instituted the case against the SDP based on the zoning and rotation formula of the party.
The party’s constitution provides that the Chairman and the Presidential candidate of the party cannot come from the same zone.
Meanwhile, Chief Olu Falae, Chairman of the party and Duke come from the same zone.
In his ruling, Justice Hussein Baba-Yusuf said: “In this instance, the party’s Chairman, Chief Olu Falae, is from the South and Duke is from the South too; the law is clear; there is nothing to write in-between.
“The law has crystallised that political parties should abide by the regulations which they have made by themselves.
“The claimant laid sufficient evidence to have the judgment in his favour; it is a clear violation of the party’s constitution; the court cannot wave right over illegality.”
He ordered the SDP to forward Gana’s name to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, as its candidate for the 2019 general election.
Reacting to the judgment, Duke said they were awaiting a copy of the judgement for a detailed review, but reiterated their belief that qualified person can vie for the office of the president.
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“Every Nigerian who meets the legal requirement is entitled to contest for the office of the President.
“Any law that seeks to curtail or subvert that right under any guise is unconstitutional, null and void and of no effect.
“The delegates of our great party at its convention in October, overwhelmingly elected me as their presidential Flag-bearer
“Any attempt to subvert their wishes through the instrumentality of the courts will be challenged.
“As a law abiding citizen, I urge my supporters and members to remain calm as we are confident that the decision of the Court will be upturned on appeal.
“We are optimistic that the Appellate Court will reach a decision that reinforces the essential tenets of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
