Tosin Olatokunbo
The plan by a former governor of Kogi state, Ibrahim Idris to control the heart of People’s Democratic Party, PDP in the Confluence state by proxy has failed. At least for now.
The ex-governor had tried to impose his son, Abubakar as the PDP governorship candidate in the last governorship election against Musa Wada.
Even though the governorship election was later won by the incumbent, Yahaya Bello, Abubakar later challenged the candidacy of Wada in the court and was later declared the authentic candidate by a Kogi state high court.
But that judgment has now been vacated by the Appeal Court sitting in Abuja on Tuesday, which affirmed Wada as the governorship candidate of the PDP in the November 16, 2019 election in the state.
“Every order made by the trial high court that there was no primary election and that the appellant was not a candidate in the election is hereby set aside,” declared Justice Ibrahim Saulawa while ruling on the appeal on Tuesday.
The appellate court held that it was wrong for the lower court to raise an issue on its own and determine same without hearing the parties.\
Close watchers of the politics of the state insist that Wada who lost the election to Bello, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, has successfully removed one of the hurdles to have himself declared governor.
Wada is currently challenging the outcome of the election at the Kogi State Governorship Election Petition sitting in Abuja.
Justice Roland Olorunfemi of Kogi State High Court had sacked Wada as a candidate of the PDP on the grounds that the party did not conduct valid primaries.
