Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN) has reacted to the directive by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN) to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to postpone elections in Zamfara State so that the All Progressives Congress (APC) will field candidates for the 2019 elections.
He described Malami’s directive as an act of desperation and advised INEC to reject it.
Recall that the Minister had said his decision was predicated on the judgment of the state High Court in suit No ZMS/GS/52/2018 between Sanusi Liman Dan-Alhaji and 37 others Vs APC and 144 others; and Appeal No: CA/S/23/2019.
However, Ozekhome berated the APC for taking Nigerians for a ride.
“This letter is wrong. It shows that they are desperate. INEC should reject it. They see Nigeria as an APC entity. They don’t believe that Nigeria is not for APC alone but to all Nigerians. It is a wrong request that should be ignored,” he told ThisDay.
Meanwhile, the Court of Appeal in Sokoto earlier yesterday validated the position of the INEC that the APC in Zamfara State does not have candidates for the governorship, National Assembly and state House of Assembly elections coming up on February 16 and March 2.
The Court, presided over by Justice Jumai Sankey, with other members of the panel, Justices Ndukwe Anyanwu and Vincent Abiru, dismissed the appeal and the motion filed by Governor Abdulaziz Yari and Alhaji Muktar Idris praying the court to be allowed to contest the elections.
It upheld the argument of Chief Ozekhome and Mr. Isiaka Dikko (SAN) that the notice of discontinuance earlier filed on February 11 by Hon. Sani Jaji under Order 11 Rules 1 and 5 of the Court of Appeal Rules had completely extinguished the appeal upon which Idris’ counsel, Mr. Mahmud Magaji (SAN), had predicated his motion filed on February 8
