Electoral Act: Court Of Appeal Fixes Date For Hearing
Electoral Act: Court Of Appeal Fixes Date For Hearing
Following an application for accelerated hearing, the Court of Appeal has fixed May 10 for the hearing of the application filed by the National Assembly against a lower court order to delete Section 84(12) of the Electoral Act.
While the nation awaits the commencement of the hearing, there are indications that some ministers and other political appointees will soon know their fate on whether or not to resign before their party primaries.
Some governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who do not want to take any risk on the case in court have already asked their cabinet members, including their likely successors, to resign to avoid being caught up by the law.
A source familiar with the court case said yesterday that “based on the weight of the case, the Court of Appeal, Owerri has fixed May 10 for the hearing of the National Assembly’s application.”
“The Assembly demanded accelerated treatment of the issues before the deadline for the submission of list of candidates for general election,” the source told The Nation.
“In its application, the National Assembly alleged that otherwise the intentions of the National Assembly in making the provisions of Section 84(12) of the Electoral Act, 2022 would be defeated.
“In the spirit of fair hearing to all parties, the court has acceded to the request because of its fundamental nature.”
The National Assembly raised five points before the Court of Appeal on why it should quash the judgment deleting Section 84(12) of the Electoral Act.
It asked the Court of Appeal to set aside March 18th, 2022 judgment of Justice E.N Anyadike of the Federal High Court, Umuahia.
But some governors of APC and PDP have decided “not to take unnecessary risk” because of the uncertainty of the outcome of the case.
The affected governors include those of Ogun, Kwara, Ondo, Kano, Osun, Ekiti, Rivers, Kaduna, Delta, Katsina, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa and Ebonyi, among others.
A governor, who spoke in confidence, said: “In politics, no serious aspirant will tie his fate to the ruling or judgment of the court.
“If you review this case, you will see that there are loopholes in the judgment of the Federal High Court, Umuahia on Section 84(12) of the Electoral Act. Some of us saw the High Court judgment as a booby trap.
“In fact, PDP governors have been more circumspect than APC governors because the law is an ass.
“It is dangerous to take a risk on nothing.”a
