The Supreme Court of Nigeria has set a date for hearing a motion that could have significant implications for future elections in Nigeria. The motion seeks to enforce an order that could disqualify the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate, Hope Uzodinma, from participating in Imo state’s governorship elections in 2019.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Action Peoples Party (APP) filed the motion seeking to give effect to the court’s judgment delivered in December 2019, which disqualified Uche Nwosu from the Imo governorship election on the ground of double nomination. The apex court had found that Nwosu was nominated by both Action Alliance (AA) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) and consequently nullified his nomination.
A political party is not capable of sponsoring two candidates for the same office in the same election.
The motion which was submitted in July 2020 has taken three years to be scheduled for hearing, and is finally slated to be heard on October 31, 2023. The motion seeks to declare that Governor Hope Uzodinma was not the candidate of the APC based on the court’s judgment that Nwosu was nominated by both the APC and the Action Alliance.
The PDP is also asking the court for an order enforcing or otherwise directing the enforcement and or giving effect to the judgement of the court in the case delivered on December 20, 2019 wherein the court held that Nwosu was nominated by both APC and AA and consequently declared his nomination a nullity.
In the event that this ruling is carried out, Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State will be abruptly stripped of his certificate of return as the current governor and may find it more difficult to win reelection in November due to his candidature as the APC nominee.