by Culled From Parchment
The legal tussle to determine who is the authentic gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Party in Cross River State has been completely put to rest.
In a judgement delivered few moments ago, Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of the federal high court ruled that Sen. Prince Bassey Edet Otu was the authentic candidate of the party having met the basic constitutional requirements to contest the position.
She also ruled that counsel to the 1st defendant has convinced the court that Sen. Otu was fully cleared by his party and scored the highest number of votes at the primary election held in June 2022.
According to Justice Ojukwu who “ no where in the affidavits submitted by the plaintiff showed that the 3rd defendant was disqualified “
She ruled that a candidate contesting for a the position of a governor must be a Nigerian, meet the stipulated age requirement and have basic qualification according to the constitution. She said the matter to determine the gubernatorial candidate of a political party is and still remains the right of a political party.
The judgement effectively lay to rest the contention of who is the authentic candidate of the Cross River State APC.
Mr. Owan Enoh in a suit number FHC/CA/CS/95/2022 had dragged, the APC, INEC and Sen. Prince Otu to court, demanding among other things, to be declared winner of the May 26 party primaries, citing the fact that 3rd defendant was not duely cleared by the party
