A Federal High Court in Awka, Anambra State Capital has refused to issue an order prohibiting Senator Andy Uba from parading himself as the flag bearer of the All Progressive Party (APC) in the upcoming governorship election in the state.
Mr Uba, a former governor of the state was controversially declared winner of the APC primaries conducted last month in what some members of the part described as “ghost primaries”.
The chairman of the APC primary election panel and Governor of Ogun State, Dapo Abiodun, who announced the outcome of the poll said Mr Uba emerged the winner with 230,201 votes while his closest rival, Johnbosco Onunkwo, polled 28,746 votes. He said 348,490 votes were cast in the primary election.
However, some APC members in the state rejected the outcome of the polls while 11 out of the 14 aspirants in the race threatened legal actions against the process.
One of the candidates, Maxwell Okoye filed a suit at the federal high court in Awka seeking to stop Mr Uba from posing as the winner of the elections.
After hearing from Okoye’s lawyers, B. O Okpemandu and Oge Nwankwo, Justice H. A. Nganjiwa refused to grant the requested reliefs.
He rather asked the APC to maintain the status quo ante bellum pending the hearing and determination of originating summons on the governorship primary of the party held on June 26 ,2021.
The term status Quo Ante Bellum is a Latin word that means ‘the situation as it existed before.’
The plaintiff/applicant is instructed to serve notice on the defendants, and they should come and show cause why this order should not be granted awaiting the hearing and determination of the originating summons,” the judge added.
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“All defendants be served with the originating summons and order of court. In the interest of justice, and in accordance with Section 87 (10) of the Electoral Act of 2010, it is now ordered that the parties maintain the status quo pending the hearing and judgment of the originating summons.”
The hearing has been rescheduled for July 19, 2021.
Uba is not new in Anambra governorship poll.
In 2007, he won and was sworn in, only to be removed by the Supreme Court on the ground that the election he won ought not to have taken place.
What is yet to be seen how the controversy trailing Uba’s governorship ambition will fizzle out
