A Federal High Court in Port Harcourt on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit brought by Benard Mikko, an All Progressives Congress governorship candidate, regarding the party’s Rivers State primary elections.
Tonye Cole, an APC candidate for governor, the Independent National Electoral Commission, and Ojukaye Flagg-Amachree, another APC candidate for governor, were also parties to the lawsuit.
The court, however, decided that the claim lacked validity.
Mikko claimed that the primary election held on May 26, 2022, which selected him as the governorship candidate, was tainted with irregularities and had asked the court to order INEC to disqualify Tonye Cole from participating in the governorship election the following year.
Following the candidate’s condemnation in a white paper report by a committee of inquiry established by the Rivers State government, he further asserted that the candidate has a dubious character.
Justice Ayua Phoebe, the presiding judge, stated in her ruling that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the case because the plaintiff failed to exhaust all administrative remedies available to the party prior to filing the lawsuit, adding that the party is supreme.
The judge concluded that Mikko had broken his earlier promise to the APC not to take the party to court and that he would support whoever won the primary elections, while also labelling the lawsuit as frivolous and an abuse of the judicial system.
While the plaintiff’s attorney, Eli Ojigba, said he will discuss with his client before taking any further action, the APC’s attorney, Chinda Chizim, praised the verdict.
