The ruling of the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, presided over by Justice Emmanuel Obile, that disqualified all of the All Progressives Congress candidates for the 2023 elections was overturned on Thursday by an appeals court sitting in Port Harcourt.
The APC and its candidates went to the Appeal Court to appeal Justice Obile’s decision in the case brought by George Orlu and five other people.
The main judge of the three-person panel of the appeal, Justice Muhammed Lawal Shuaibu, ruled that George Orlu and five other people had not used all available internal party channels before filing the lawsuit.
The court further determined that the respondents in the appeal had no basis for the case because they had not attended the APC conference.
The panel stated that it was impossible for the Federal High Court Judge to have declined to join the APC candidates who are parties to the lawsuit.
In addition, Justice Lawal Shuaibu stated that political party disputes and delegate nominations are matters for the parties themselves and that the Federal High Court lacks jurisdiction to hear the case in the first place.
In the appeal, the panel penalised the respondents with a sum of N500,000.
