A Federal High court in Owerri Imo state has nullified the purported ward congress conducted by a faction of the All progressives in Imo state on May 5, 2018.
The presiding judge, Justice Lewis Allagoa while delivering the judgment that lasted for one hour on Tuesday, said that, after listening to all the counsels, there is obvious evidence that no ward congress held on the scheduled date as all the defendants in the suit all have different names of the result sheet.
The judge who dismissed a motion filed by the defendants insisted that his court had jurisdiction to hear the matter.
He said one of the video evidence exhibit tendered to the court by the plaintiffs clearly suggested that there was no ward congress in the state on that day and the widely circulated recorded “press interview between the state Commissioner of Police, the Imo state governor, Rochas Okorocha and Senator Osita Izunaso at the latter’s residence is also a pointer that no congress held on the scheduled date which is justiciable in law.
The Judge also sighted a report of the Independent National Electoral Commission, which confirmed that there was no APC ward congress in Imo state on May 5.
Justice Allagoa, however, ordered APC to fix a new date for the ward, local and state congresses in the state as both defendants and plaintiffs are members of the same political party.
It could be recalled that following a purported ward congress conducted by a faction of the APC in the state on May 5, the faction loyal to Governor Rochas Okorocha approached the Federal high court in Owerri praying it to nullify the outcome of the ward congress as it was done through an illegal process.
