UDOM Emmanuel UDOM EMMANUEL REMAINS PDP CANDIDATE IN AKS -ABUJA HIGH COURT LACKS JURISDICTION By Emmanuel Nicholas Jurisdiction is genuine and fundamental in every proceeding in court. If a court adjudicates over a matter which it has no jurisdiction, no matter how brilliant the judgment is, its efforts and proceedings are nullity abinitio. The expedite action of the Abuja high court over a Peoples Democratic Party gubernatorial primaries in Akwa Ibom is strictly out of it jurisdiction and the proceeding from it remains nullity abinitio. Jurisdiction may also be determined by geographical area of operation of the court. The leading authority on the essentials of jurisdiction is the case of Madukolu V. Nkemdilim (1962) S.C.N.L.R 341. A high court has jurisdiction: When the subject matter of the case is within its jurisdiction. The Abuja and States High Courts under Nigerian constitution of 1999 entertains cases which took place within the State it situated. High court derives its jurisdiction from the statute creating it, including the 1999 constitution and other enabling statutory provisions. The constitution provides that no any other State High court has the power to entertain cases of other States in Nigeria. Away from Court Jurisdiction, the federal High Court in TIMIPRE SYLVA Vs PDP/ Henry Seriake Dickson held that PDP did not violate a court order when it conducted it primaries and it therefore the winner of that primaries is legally recognized as the party candidate it set aside the earlier injunction which prevented INEC from recognising Dickson as candidate. Suffice it to say that from the ruling of the High Court, it will be right to infer that the PDP held governorship primaries of November 19, 2011, which produced Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson as flag bearer of the party in the February 11, 2012 general election in Bayelsa State remains valid and is certified as authentic. Meanwhile, the People’s Democratic Party, PDP has presented a certificate of return to Mr Udom Emmanuel who emerged the winner of the recently conducted PDP governorship primaries in the state. The party has accordingly submitted Mr Udom Emmanuel’s name as the PDP gubernatorial candidate for Akwa Ibom State to the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC as the authentic candidate of the party duly elected by delegates in the primaries that was conducted in the state on the 8th December 2014 which he emerged victorious and the winner of the primaries that was beamed live on channels television and Akwa Ibom Broadcasting cooperation AKBC live. The primary which was adjudged as free, fair and transparent produced Mr Udom Emmanuel as the winner and flag bearer under the platform of PDP in the Akwa Ibom gubernatorial election who will stand the 2015 governorship election in the state. “There is an existing provision in the Electoral Act, which actually creates constraining what INEC does in terms of regulating and ensuring internal party democracy. For example, section 31 of the Electoral Act says that when a party does primaries and submits the names to INEC, INEC will not reject those names for any reason whatsoever. So what so ever anybody does, the party primaries is strictly the internal business of the party not subject to court litigations, neither the INEC has no right to refuse or substitute any candidate name already submitted to it .
Posted on: Sat, 13 Dec 2014 12:42:24 +0000
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