Party member asks court to void APC primaries in Enugu

The controversy caused by the primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Enugu State has taken another dimension as a member of the party has instituted a suit at the Federal High Court Enugu, asking the court to nullify the entire primaries of the party in the State.

In suit number FHC/EN/CS/122/2018, the plaintiff, Mr. Ifeanyi Onwuamaze, a registered member of APC in Affa/Ikono/Oghu ward of Udi Local Government Area of Enugu State, claimed that the entire primaries held on the 3rd and 4th of October 2018, should be nullified, as the open ballot system of voting adopted, violated Section 37 of the 1999 constitution as amended.

Both the APC and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were joined as 1st and 2nd respondents respectively in the fundamental human rights enforcement suit instituted by Godwin Onwusi Esq., on behalf of the plaintiff.

In a 32-paragraph affidavit in support of his application, Onwuamaeze argued that subjecting him to open ballot system of voting is a violation of his right and that of other party members to keep private the knowledge of who they voted for in an election, including the primary elections of 3rd and 4th of October, 2018, as guaranteed by Section 37 of the 1999 constitution (as amended).

He maintained that the National Assembly, Governorship and State House of Assembly primary elections of the 1st respondent (APC), conducted on 3rd and 4th of October in all the 260 wards in Enugu state, using open ballot system, were unconstitutional, null and void and that the candidates who emerged from such unconstitutional primaries were not lawful and valid candidates.

The plaintiff/applicant who attached documentary evidence including a video clip to show that open ballot voting system was used for the primaries, sought among other reliefs, a declaration that he and other members of the party were entitled to the privacy of the knowledge of who they vote in an election, including the October 3rd and 4th 2018 APC primary elections, as guaranteed by section 37 of the 1999 constitution of Nigeria (as altered).

Other reliefs sought by the plaintiff included a declaration that the open ballot system of voting, that is, queuing behind the candidate of your choice in the full glare of everybody, constitutes a violation of his constitutional rights and other party members to the privacy of who they vote for in an election, including the last primary elections of APC.

He further asked the court for a declaration that the primary elections of the 1st respondent, APC, conducted by the Professor Moses Momoh-led panel via open ballot system in Enugu state on the aforementioned date, to nominate her National Assembly, Gubernatorial and House of Assembly candidates for the 2019 general elections were unconstitutional, null and void, having been conducted in violation of Section 37 of the 1999 constitution (as altered).