Anambra Central: PDP asks Appeal Court to stop INEC from conducting poll
Ahea
d of Monday’s hearing of an appeal filed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), against the judgment of a Federal High Court in Abuja, which had ordered the electoral umpire to include the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in its planned rerun election in Anambra Central Senatorial District, the PDP has asked the court to stop INEC from conducting the poll.
d of Monday’s hearing of an appeal filed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), against the judgment of a Federal High Court in Abuja, which had ordered the electoral umpire to include the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in its planned rerun election in Anambra Central Senatorial District, the PDP has asked the court to stop INEC from conducting the poll.The Court of Appeal Division in Enugu had ordered INEC to conduct a fresh election within 90 days into Anambra Central Senatorial District following the nullification of the election of Mrs Uche Ekwunife who was representing the zone at the Senate.
Consequently, INEC had scheduled the rerun election for May 3, 2016, but decided to postpone the conduct of the poll indefinitely following an order of a Federal High Court which compelled INEC to include the PDP in the scheduled poll.
In the appeal marked: CA/A/165/2016, the PDP who is the respondent in the appeal filed by INEC, prayed the appellate court to stop the electoral umpire from conducting any election into the senatorial seat.
It argued that the 90 days within which INEC was to conduct the rerun poll as ordered by the court had elapsed.
In the notice of preliminary objection brought pursuant to order 10 rule 1 of the Court of Appeal rules 2011 and under the inherent jurisdiction of the court, the PDP urged the court for “an order striking out the appeal hereof as this honourable court has no jurisdiction to entertain and determine the said appeal, Or in the alternative, an order dismissing the appeal hereof as same is based on an incompetent and invalid record.”