In a significant ruling, the Federal High Court in Abuja has affirmed the nomination and substitution of Kadiri Asamah as the Labour Party’s deputy governorship candidate for the upcoming Edo gubernatorial election.
The judgment, delivered by Justice Emeka Nwite, upheld the argument put forth by the party’s lead counsel, Johnson Usman, that the party had followed all the necessary procedures as stipulated by the Electoral Act, 2022 and other regulations in nominating Mr. Asamah as the running mate for the poll.
The controversy arose after the party conducted its governorship primary election in Edo on February 23, where Olumide Akpata emerged as the party’s standard-bearer.
Initially, Akpata nominated Olayinka Faith Alufohai as his running mate. However, Ms. Alufohai later withdrew her nomination on March 8, submitting an affidavit of withdrawal to the party.
Following her withdrawal, Akpata nominated Mr. Asamah as the new running mate. His name and personal details were duly submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on April 15.
However, INEC refused to publish Mr. Asamah’s name, prompting the Labour Party and Akpata to take legal action.
In their suit against INEC, the party and Akpata argued that INEC should accept and publish Mr. Asamah’s name as the party’s deputy governorship candidate.
The court agreed with their position, stating that since Ms. Alufohai had withdrawn her candidature, the Labour Party had the right to submit another name as the running mate.
The judge emphasized that the Labour Party had met the timelines specified in the Electoral Act and ordered INEC to accept and publish the name of Kadiri Yusuf Asamah as the running mate/deputy governorship candidate for the Edo State Governorship Election scheduled for September 21, 2024.
