The national secretariat of Labour Party sold forms to three persons but conducted primary for only Edeoga.
By Anayochukwu Agbo.
A gloomy cloud is thickening around the electoral sky of Labour Party in Enugu State. If not dispersed with wisdom, it will rain disaster for the Party in the gubernatorial election as they may not have the time and the ready candidate to challenge the ruling People’s Democratic Party, PDP, candidate.
Peter Obi, the party’s presidential candidate may be able to salvage the party’s electoral fortune if he steps in between the combatants for the Enugu State gubernatorial ticket and make peace.
On November 2, an Abuja Federal high court presided over by Justice Nkonye Evelyn Maha will deliver judgment on who is the real Enugu State Labour Party gubernatorial candidate for the 2023 election. The party that loses will go on appeal. The Supreme Court will eventually have the final word. Meanwhile, other political parties are on the campaign trail.
On October 4, 2022, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in line with the electoral guidelines, published the name of Chijoke Edeoga as the Enugu State gubernatorial candidate, replacing Casmir Agbo, the State party Chairman who was the placeholder.
Edeoga emerged from the guided primary conducted for only him by the party on August 4, 2022. Prior to this, the national secretariat of the party sold forms to three persons in this order – Dr Davidson Nnamani, Edeoga and Evarest Nnaji. The Party could not achieve a consensus. They had allegedly promised each of them he would be the consensus candidate.However, Edeoga was forcibly made the sole aspirant at the primary and he was returned elected. His name was subsequently forwarded to INEC.
Then Nnaji went to court.
Majority of the vociferous Labour Party supporters in Enugu State, hoping to dislodge PDP do not know that the Enugu State gubernatorial ticket is the subject of a titanic battle at a federal high court, Abuja. The final outcome of the case will determine the gubernatorial candidate of Labour Party in Enugu State.
So far, Obi has not shown interest in the contest.
On November 2, judgment will be delivered in the case that may rock the boat of LP in Enugu State. The suit instituted by Evarest Edeh Nnaji, popularly known as Odengene, on August 16 has only two defendants – the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and Labour Party. Nnaji had earlier instituted a similar case at the federal high Port Harcourt but abandoned it for the federal high court Abuja.
He has asked the court to determine if:
Having fulfilled all conditions precedent given to him by Labour Party for his emergence as the party’s consensus gubernatorial candidate in Enugu State for 2023 general elections, he ought not to be declared as the authentic and validly nominated consensus gubernatorial candidate of LP in the forthcoming 2023 general elections.
If having fulfilled all the conditions LP “is not estopped from submitting to INEC the name of any person other than himself as the authentic and validly nominated consensus gubernatorial candidate” of the Party for the election.
If his his exclusion by LP “from participating/contesting as an aspirant at the party’s Enugu State gubernatorial primary election purportedly conducted on the 4th day of August, 2022, or any other date, is not illegal, unconstitutional and renders the said primary election null, void and of no effect whatsoever.”
If INEC “ought not recognize, deal with him and publish his name as the authentic and validly nominated gubernatorial candidate of LP in Enugu for the forthcoming 2023 general elections.”
Against this background, Nnaji is seeking for the following reliefs:
A declaration that he is the authentic and validly nominated consensus gubernatorial candidate of LP in Enugu State for the forthcoming 2023 general elections.
A declaration that LP is estopped from submitting to INEC any person other himself as the candidate of the party.
A declaration that LP’s Enugu State gubernatorial primary purportedly conducted on the 4th day OF August 2022 is null, void and of no effect whatsoever.
A declaration that INEC ought to recognise Nnaji, deal with and publish his name as the authentic and validly nominated gubernatorial candidate of LP.
An Order directing LP to submit his name to INEC as gubernatorial candidate of the Party.
An Order directing INEC to forthwith accept and recognise Nnaji as the gubernatorial candidate of the Party.
An Order of Injunction restraining Labour from submitting any name other his name to INEC as the gubernatorial candidate of the party.
An Order of Injunction restraining INEC from accepting, acting on, according recognition to, or in any way or manner dealing with any person other than Nnaji as the gubernatorial candidate of the Party.
Or in the alternative, an order directing LP to conduct a fresh gubernatorial primary election in Enugu State within a reasonable time from the date of the order, at which Nnaji and other eligible aspirants in the party shall participate and contest for the gubernatorial candidacy of the party.
In his supporting affidavit, Nnaji swore that Labour assured him that if he paid N25 million for expression of interest, nomination form and waiver, he would be the consensus Enugu State gubernatorial candidate of the party. That he paid the N25m to the Party on 13th of July, 2022, and therefore fulfilled all the required conditions. That Labour Party promised/assured him that “the Party would conduct a primary election for me, at which I will be declared as the consensus candidate.”
He equally averred that surprisingly on August 5th he heard the news on the radio that Labour Party had purportedly conducted a gubernatorial primary election for Enugu State on August 4th. That he contacted the Enugu State secretariat of the party to verify the news and confirmed it to be true. That the Party held the primary “without any prior notice publicly published or given to me and thereby excluded me from participating in the primary, despite having issued me INEC Nomination form.”
He prayed the court that granting the reliefs sought “will enhance internal democracy in Labour Party and accord with the dictates of the rule of law.”
The motto of LP is ironically “Equal opportunity and social justice.” Nnaji’s membership card number 34479 was signed by both the national Chairman and Secretary. The Sentinel found the two signatures to be consistent with the signatures of the two national officers. The card showed that he paid his monthly subscription for May, June and July 2022. Documents examined by The Sentinel showed that Nnaji made the payment in installments from the corporate account of Odengene Air Shuttle Services Ltd. domiciled in FCMB to LP’s United Bank for Africa account number 1021575052.
In its written address, Labour Party argues that the court lacks jurisdiction to entertain the matter on three grounds: that Nnaji has no locus standi to institute the action; non-joinder of Chijoke Edeoga as a necessary party to the suit and that the complaints of Nnaji in the suit borders on internal/domestic affairs of Labour Party.
The Party asserted that it did not wrongfully nominate its gubernatorial candidate for Enugu State for the 2023 election. That the conduct of primaries by the party is “its absolute internal affairs.” That the claimant woefully failed to provide evidence to support his case; that though Nnaji is a member of the party, he has no rights in the internal affairs of the party and that the party never promised any aspirant automatic ticket; rather, it provided a level playing field for all aspirants. The Party insists that it fixed the date of its primaries which was announced to all aspirants. It further asserts that the party has the right to sponsor any candidate of its choice and the grounds of Nnaji’s application will amount to the court intervening in the internal affairs of the party. The Party concluded that Nnaji’s intention was to mislead the court and waste its precious time and that his application “is neither supported by law nor logic.”
The Party noted that Nnaji is not seeking any relief against Chijioke Edeoga, Enugu State gubernatorial candidate of the party.
In further reply to Labour’s argument, Nnaji’s lawyer argued that LP infringed on Nnaji’s fundamental human rights by denying him fair hearing by purportedly conducting a primary election without inviting him after collecting money from him and issuing him with nomination form. “The law is trite that infringement/breach of the right to a fair hearing is unpardonable, has dire consequences and automatically donates locus standi to the party who has been such right.”
Senior lawyers say excluding Odengene from the primary was a serious breach by LP.
Deliberate Mischief by Labour Party officials.
Many political analysts are seeing deliberate mischief in the conduct of Labour Party officials. Their attitude suggest a deliberate design to make the August 4 primary fail. For instance, why were Nnaji and Nnamani not allowed to participate in the primary despite paying and being issued nomination forms? Why did the party collect money from the three aspirants and held primary for only one, excluding the other two?
The party’s national chairman is a lawyer. Would he claim ignorance of the fact that exclusion is a sure ground for nullification of an election, according to the electoral act? What did Labour Party have in mind when they collected money from Nnaji, and Nnamani, issued them receipts and party cards and deliberately excluded them from the primary?
The thinking is that it may have been a deliberate design to favour Nnaji. If the court holds that Nnaji’s fundamental rights have been infringed on by the party and orders a fresh primary, Nnaji may have an advantage.
Banana Peels for Labour
If the court nullifies the primary, orders a fresh one and Nnaji wins, what are the implications for Labour Party? Nnaji is serious banana peels for LP in Enugu State. If he gets the party ticket, Labour may lose the gubernatorial election. Whyis this so?
Nnaji is from Nkanu East Local Government Area, the same with Peter Mba, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and candidate and Uche Nnaji, the All Progressives Congress, APC, candidate. Frank Nweke Jnr, the gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, is from Nkanu West. The three are all Nkanu and will share the Nkanu votes.
On the other hand, Edeoga is from Isiuzo Local Government Area part of Enugu East Senatorial Zone, which shares cultural affinity with Enugu North, the largest voting bloc in Enugu State. Any candidate backed by the zone wins the gubernatorial election. Presently, the sympathy of Enugu North is with an Isiuzo candidate. The collapse of the popularity of Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi after the PDP primary is directly linked to his denial of the PDP gubernatorial ticket to Edeoga and Isiuzo.
When Edeoga got the Labour Party ticket, Enugu North largely switched support to Labour and fielded a strong senatorial candidate for the zone in Okey Ezea to challenge Ugwuanyi, who is the PDP gubernatorial candidate. Buoyed up by the Peter Obi mantra, Labour is working hard to be the preferred party in Enugu North.
If on November 2, the court nullifies the Edeoga ticket and orders a fresh primary the LP gubernatorial dream will collapse in Enugu State if an acceptable candidate is not chosen. Then PDP will coast home to victory. This is the outcome desired by PDP in Enugu State, an outcome Ugwuanyi is strongly alleged to be funding.
To save the day for LP, Obi, the presidential candidate of the party, may have to step out of his neutrality and intervene in the resulting quagmire. So far, he has remained aloof to the conflict, hoping to work with whoever gets the ticket. The Presidential election coming before the gubernatorial election further makes the gubernatorial impetus a less catalyst for his success at the national level than it would have been if the gubernatorial comes first.
Be that as it may, Obi needs a home base. And with no gubernatorial election holding in Anambra State in 2023, Enugu is Obi’s best chance to win a governorship seat in the Southeast geo-political zone. This makes his intervention in the tussle for LP gubernatorial ticket an imperative. A continued legal tussle to Appeal and Supreme courts will only enfeeble the party and strengthen the PDP.
Obi should call all the three aspirants and settle the case out of court. This will be a win-win case for the party and its candidate.
