Court sets aside judgment nullifying Ebonyi PDP primaries

• Published date: 02 February 2023
• Publication title: Nigeria - The Nation

AFederal High Court sitting in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State capital, has set aside the judgment of Justice Binta Nyako of the Abuja division of the court, which nullified the Peoples Democratic Party's (PDP's) primaries of May 28 and 29, 2022 in Ebonyi State that produced Dr. Ifeanyi Odii and other candidates of the party.

Justice Nyako had on December 8, 2022, nullified the primaries and directed the party to conduct a fresh one within 14 days.

Nyako's judgment followed a suit by Mr. Okoroafor Okorie against the PDP and Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The court agreed with the counsel for the plaintiff that the May 28 and 29, 2022 PDP primaries that produced Odii and other PDP candidates were conducted in flagrant disobedience of the order of the Court of Appeal, staying the execution of the judgment of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, which had declared Joseph Onu as the Ebonyi State chairman of the party.

Not satisfied with Justice Nyako's judgment, the PDP filed a motion to set aside the judgment on the grounds that it was obtained by fraud.

The matter...