I’m still Adamawa North APC senatorial candidate — Abbo

Elisha Abbo, the senator for Adamawa North, has stated that he is still the All Progressive Congress’s candidate in the next 2023 general elections, despite a court order that removed him as the party’s flag bearer on Monday.Information Guide Nigeria

Abbo told The PUNCH exclusively on Wednesday that the court verdict had no substance and should not be taken seriously.

A Yola High Court dismissed Abbo as the Senate candidate for Adamawa North in the upcoming general election, ruling that he had been expelled by the party and hence should not be recognised as such.

Senator Abbo was barred from running for re-election by the judge, Justice Danladi Mohammed, because he had been removed from the party.

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The judge held that the senator and the APC are bound by the resolution of the party’s Mubi North Local Government executives dated October 7, 2022, which expelled the lawmaker, and so he is not entitled to any right or advantage afforded to APC members.

The party’s state chapter fired Abbo in October for anti-party activities related to his open criticism of the Muslim-Muslim ticket for the party’s presidential and vice-presidential candidates.

In response to his dismissal as the party’s candidate, Abbo claimed that the court verdict was the result of desperate politicians who don’t know when to give up.

He said, “It’s not a serious thing though, they only wanted to draw media attention and publicity because I am involved. Outside of the media attention, it is absolutely nothing; I am neither bothered nor worried because they do not have a case against me.”JAMB portal

The lawmaker said he would take the case to the Court of Appeal and also called on his supporters to disregard the ruling.

He said, “You can imagine a state High Court assuming jurisdiction against the Independent National Electoral Commission.

“Agitating over an ongoing case in the Federal High Court, the truth is that they have delivered their judgement which is what the Peoples Democratic Party wanted in collaboration with some people in the APC.”

Abbo also added that the necessary parties were not involved in the court ruling, hence the ruling held no ground.

He said, “They have delivered their judgement without involving the INEC, because in this case as it is, INEC is a party and the National Chairman of the party is also a party.

“All they are doing is just noise and that is where it would end. I am still the candidate of the party and I am the one holding the party’s mandate.”

The Adamawa senator said that he doesn’t take the court ruling seriously, but in order to set precedence so that no other person tries such with others subsequently, he’d appeal the court ruling.

He said, “I will appeal so that tomorrow, when someone is a candidate of the party but because the state chairman of the party isn’t comfortable with such a person, they would not start threatening such with impeachment.NYSC portal

“I will appeal the case in order to serve as a deterrent to others and not set an evil precedence. Our democracy in Nigeria is a growing democracy, it hasn’t still matured, and we are still monitoring our democracy.

“The judiciary is a part of any democratic process and to ensure that democracy grows, we have to find a way through which we can continue to dispel this kind of cases so that they won’t try it with someone who doesn’t know what to do or where to go, so that is why I am going to the Court of Appeal to set this aside.

“You cannot assume jurisdiction over INEC as a state High Court. I am still the candidate of the party and that stands as it is.”

In addressing the authority of the state court to hear the issue, a senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, stated that the Electoral Act could not trump the provisions of the Constitution.

Falana said, “He has said he’s going on appeal, the appeal court will decide that. I don’t agree with him that the state High Court does not have the power to preside over the case.

“The state court has an unlimited jurisdiction in matters of that case, the Electoral Act cannot amend the constitution, and the constitution is higher than the Electoral Act in the hierarchy of the superiority of the law in Nigeria.”

He added, “The attempt by the National Assembly to hijack the powers of the state High Court is subversive of the tenets of federalism.JAMB Result

“Without amending the Constitution, the powers of the state court cannot be eroded.”

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