The court of appeal sitting in Abuja has set aside the judgment of the federal high court, Abuja, which had barred the Zamfara state chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, from fielding candidates in the general election.
Recall that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, had delisted the party due to its inability to conduct primaries within the stipulated timeline for party primaries.
INEC’s position was validated by a federal high court in Abuja, which held that it was right to have delisted names of candidates presented by the APC for the elections.
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However, a 3- man panel of the appellate court on Thursday held that the trial court lacked the jurisdiction to have entertained the suit, describing it as an abuse of court process.
It held that the suit at the federal high court was filed out of time.
According to the appellate court, the electoral act stipulated that a suit should be instituted 14 days after the cause of action had arisen, but the suit was filed 15 days after, making the action illegal.
Meanwhile, INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, at a press conference in Abuja on Thursday, insisted that APC in Zamfara would not field candidates for the elections.
Governor Abdulaziz Yari, of Zamfara has threatened that elections will not hold in the state if APC does not participate in them.
