A legal practitioner and expert in election matters, Barr. Kalu Agu, has predicted that the current hardships in the country will count against the effort of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to recapture Edo State in the November 2024 gubernatorial poll.
Speaking on the AIT political programme “Democracy Today,” monitored in Abuja at the weekend, he said the ruling party is perceived by the people of the state as responsible for the intolerable level of economic difficulty affecting the majority of them.
According to him, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is poised to retain power, especially given the effort of the Godwin Obaseki administration to reposition the state.
He also clarified that the controversy generated by the PDP ad-hoc delegate congress is a domestic matter of the party and is not justiciable under the laws of Nigeria or by the pronouncement of the Supreme Court
Agu said: “From all analyses, the people of Edo State are heavily supporting the PDP. The PDP is doing very well in Edo State under Governor Obaseki, especially because of the numerous developmental projects of the governor. All the PDP needs to do now is come together and consolidate the support. Once they are united, the PDP will take the APC to the cleaners in the forthcoming election.
“Nobody wants to risk having the APC in Edo State. What is happening in Nigeria today under the leadership of the APC is a clear signal that Nigerians across the country have rejected the APC.
“Today, Nigerians in all parts of the country are crying and dying of hunger; there are killings, kidnappings, and banditry across the land.
“That is why there is agitation against the APC everywhere, including in Edo State. Let the PDP come together and present a candidate because the people of Edo State are behind them.”
On the issue of the ad hoc delegate congress, the lawyer advised aggrieved stakeholders in the PDP to sheathe their swords in the general interest of the people of Edo State. He also observed that such issues are domestic affairs of the Party and are not justiciable
He added, “I am not a member of the PDP, but as a concerned Nigerian, my advice to the members of the PDP in Edo State is for them to come together as one family.
In a contest like this, there will always be one winner, and once the winner emerges, others should rally around and support him.
“There are a plethora of authorities whose primary issues are the domestic affairs of a party, especially the issue of the ad hoc delegates. These are not justiciable issues.
The Supreme Court has held that the Court has no business with the issues of those who emerge as ad hoc delegates of a party. Section 84 (15) of the Electoral Act, 2022, is very clear in stating that no court in this country is empowered to stop the primary election of any party or even the general election.”
He allayed fears that the Plateau State scenario where PDP State and National Assembly candidates were disqualified could occur in Edo, describing the judgement of the Plateau State Election Appeal Court Panel as an error of judgement that has been overridden by the Supreme Court.
“What the Justices of the Court of Appeal did was more or less a coup against the PDP. The beauty of a governorship election is that the matter moves to the Supreme Court, and there is already precedent set by the Supreme Court that issues of the process of nomination of candidates by political parties are pre-election matters, and being a pre-election matter, the tribunal has no jurisdiction over them.
“The issue with which the aggrieved aspirants are contending is the process of the election of the ad hoc delegates that will participate in the primary election.
It is a common thing that when there is a contest, some people will feel aggrieved, and when they feel aggrieved, they may want to vent their grievance in court. But our courts have already held that such issues are domestic issues of the party.
“Moreover, those that emerged as ad hoc delegates are adults with independent minds. All the aspirants need to do is approach them and market themselves to them.
After the election, they should come together and rally around whoever emerges as a candidate. This is what the people of Edo State want from the PDP,” Agu stated.
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