Niger East: Senator Umaru appeals court judgement nullifying his nomination

The Senator representing Niger east senatorial district, Mr David Umaru, has appealed the judgment of the Federal High Court , declaring Mohammed Sani Musa as the candidate of the All Progressives Congresses (APC) for the February 16 election.

Justice Folashade Ogunbanjo in her judgement on Thursday ruled that Musa was the declared winner of the primary election the APC conducted in the senatorial district on October 2, 2018.

Consequently, the court granted an order setting aside the nomination and/or submission of the name of Senator David Umaru by the APC to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the candidate to represent the party for the Niger East senatorial district at the general elections.

However, in a press conference on the matter on Friday, Senator Umaru said the judgment is not only erroneous but against the weight of evidence before the judge.

“As a clear demonstration of my position, I have appealed against the decision of the trial court to the Appeal Court, Abuja and I would like to confirm to you that earlier this morning I filed my Notice of Appeal/Stay of Execution against the judgment, ” he averred.

Umaru who is also the chairman Senate Committee on Judiciary and Human Rights claimed that the Court has no power to nominate candidates for political parties, pointing out that there is a plethora of Supreme Court decisions affirming the power of the parties regarding nomination of candidates.

He averred that in the instant case however, the “learned trial court ignored evidence of the defence and assumed the responsibility of nominating its preferred candidate. ”

Umaru also faulted the judge’s decision to proceed with the matter without jurisdiction, noting that the suit in question was filed in breach of the provision of section 285 (9) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended.

He assured his supporters that the judgment has neither sealed his fate nor affect his candidature, adding that he remained the bona fide candidate of APC in the forthcoming senatorial election in Niger east until the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court prove the contrary.