Breaking: Supreme Court Affirms Udofia As APC Governorship Candidate In Akwa Ibom

By Akinwale Kasali

There is wild jubilation in the camp of the All Progressives Congress, APC, as the Supreme Court has ruled that Akanimo Udofia remains the substantive candidate of the APC at the Governorship Election scheduled for Saturday, March 11.

The Apex Court dismissed the suit filed by Senator Ita Enang seeking to nullify the Primary Election which produced Akanimo Udofia as the Governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in Akwa Ibom State.

Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun upheld the decision of the Court of Appeal, Abuja, which held that the Federal High Court in Uyo acted without jurisdiction when it nullified the APC’s primary, and upheld the primary that produced Udofia.

Enang had prayed the Court to declare him as the authentic Governorship Candidate of the party on the basis that Udofia was not a member of the APC when the party conducted the Governorship primary on May 26, 2022.

After the Federal High Court in Uyo nullified Udofia as the APC governorship candidate for the State in November 2022, Udofia headed to the Court of Appeal in Abuja to challenge the judgement.

The Appellate Court on January 19 set aside the judgment of the lower court and restored him as the APC candidate, stating that the Federal High Court in Uyo wrongly assumed jurisdiction to entertain the matter contrary to Sections 97 and 98 of the Sheriffs Act.

Enang, dissatisfied with the decision of the Court of Appeal, approached the Supreme Court to challenge the judgement.

The Supreme Court dismissed Enang’s suit on grounds that  the trial court had no jurisdiction to question the validity of the waiver granted to Udofia to participate in the primaries, being an internal affair of the party.