Abia: Court summons APC, INEC, Kalu over ‘illegal’ primary election
Scroll down to see the court paper.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate in the upcoming Aba North/South Federal Constituency have gotten into trouble for conducting an “illegal” primary election.
Mascot Uzor Kalu, who is brother to former Abia governor Orji Uzor Kalu, was named APC flag bearer for the bye-election scheduled for March 27. But his emergence has now been embroiled in alleged unconstitutionality.
The APC collected millions of naira from several political aspirants who were mandated to buy nomination forms only for the party to handpick Kalu as the winner of a primary election that was never held, a court document showed.
One of the aspirants, Nwokeocha Ogbonnaya Eze, has now dragged the party, Kalu and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to court in order to right the alleged illegality.
A federal high court in Umuahia, thereafter, summoned the APC, Kalu, and the electoral body to appear before it, a development that could scuttle the party’s chances at the polls.
The summons, according to a court paper seen by The Realm News, bordered on APC’s alleged violations of its own election guidelines in the “imposition” of Kalu as party candidate.
The court wants to know whether the APC, after making aspirants buy nomination forms for N3,850,000, but allegedly failing to hold a legal primary election, can present Kalu as its legitimate candidate.
The summons was issued on March 22 and must be responded to within 30 days.
The court also wants to know whether or not INEC can legally accept Kalu as the APC candidate for the March 27 bye-election.
See court the documents below:
