EDO 2024 APC PRIMARY ELECTION: ANAMERO SUNDAY DEKERI APPROACHES FHC, SEEKS LEGAL ACTION 

EDO 2024 APC PRIMARY ELECTION: ANAMERO SUNDAY DEKERI APPROACHES FHC, SEEKS LEGAL ACTION

8TH March, 2024.

AAC/AB/08/03/2024

The Chairman,
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Plot 436, Zambezi Crescent, Maitama District, FCT, Abuja.

Attention: Professor Mahmood Yakubu

Dear Sir,

*IN THE MATTER OF THE RECENTLY CONDUCTED ALL PROGRESSIVES CONGRESS (APC) PRIMARY ELECTION FOR NOMINATION OF A CANDIDATE FOR EDO STATE GOVERNORSHIP ELECTION SLATED FOR SEPTEMBER, 2024 AND ISSUES ARISING THEREFROM PENDENCY OF SUIT NO: FHC/ABJ/CS/299/2024- HON. ANAMERO SUNDAY DEKERI V. SEN. MONDAY OKPEBHOLO, ALL PROGRESSIVES CONGRESS (APC) & INDEPENDENT NATIONAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION.*

We are counsel on record for Hon. Anamero Sunday Dekeri who is hereinafter simply called “Our client” for ease of reference, and it is on his behalf and express instruction that we write you this letter on the above subject matter.

We write to bring to your notice that our client has approached the Federal High Court, Abuja, in the above suit to challenge the declaration of Senator Monday Okpebholo as the winner and candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in the recently conducted primary election by the Senator Bassey Otu led Edo State Gubernatorial Primary Election Committee.

You will kindly recall that on the 17th of February, 2024, our client’s party, The All Progressives Congress (APC), conducted its primary election for nomination of a candidate for the Edo State Governorship election, the outcome of which became controversial following the unlawful declaration of Hon. Denis Idahosa as winner of the primary by the Sen. Hope Uzodinma led Edo State Gubernatorial primary Election Committee which compromised the process by announcing a winner without appropriate collation of results from the eighteen local Government returning officers who were appointed by the party for that purpose., and which results clearly show that our client was the rightful winner of the said primary election having secured the highest number of votes cast at the primary.

The Local Government Returning officers for the 2024 Edo All progressives Congress (APC) Governorship primary election, who had the authentic collated results from the eighteen local Government Areas in Edo State, in a counter response, declared our Client as the rightful winner of the primary election. Declaring the result on Saturday 17th February, 2024 in Benin City, the spokesman of the local government returning officers, Mr. Ojo Babatunde, said that our client polled a total number of 25,384 votes to defeat his closest rival Hon. Dennis Idahosa who scored 14,127 votes.

Consequent upon this declaration, our client approached the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) by a letter dated 19th February, 2024 which letter was received and stamped by the office of the National chairman on the same date, to request for his Certificate of return as the duly nominated gubernatorial candidate of APC for the Edo State Gubernatorial election scheduled for September, 2024. The party, however, declared the exercise inconclusive and ordered for a supplementary primary to conclude the exercise.

The supplementary primary which was ordered by the National Working Committee of the All progressives Congress (APC) was understood by our client as a continuation of the earlier exercise of 17th February, 2024 which he won overwhelmingly and not a fresh poll for mere arbitrary result writing or whimsical votes allocation as was done by the Senator Bassey Out led Edo State Gubernatorial primary election Committee. Even though our client’s teeming supporters across the state came out in large numbers for the rescheduled supplementary primary election, no election took place as materials and men for the primary election were holed up in Benin City where results were whimsically allocated and announced to the chagrin and embarrassment of our client and all lovers of democracy who genuinely looked up to a progressive party to approximate the ideals and principles of internal democracy, participatory democracy, transparency and fairness in the electoral process.

The declaration of Senator Monday Okpebholo as winner of the rescheduled primary for 22nd February, 2024 and candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Edo State Governorship election scheduled for September, 2024 is invalid, wrongful and illegal as same was done in brazen breach of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended, Electoral Act, 2022, as amended, and the Party’s constitution and guidelines for the primaries.

It is the contention of our client that as the rightful winner of the primary election of 17th February, 2024, his right to be declared as the rightful candidate of the All progressives Congress for 2024 Edo State governorship election by APC has become accrued and vested, and that his accrued and vested rights cannot be extinguished, overridden and or defeated by the later declaration of Senator Monday Okpebholo in a supplementary primary election which, from all intents and purpose, was supposed to be a continuation of the previous primary election.

Our client further contends that your commission is under a duty pursuant to section 84(13) to reject the purported nomination of Senator Monday Okpebholo as the candidate of APC for the Edo State Governorship election which nomination was done in breach of the provision of its Constitution and the Electoral Act, 2022, as amended.

The purpose of this letter is to respectfully inform you of the pendency of this suit and at the same time to request you not to accept, receive and or process the nomination of Senator Monday Okpebholo or any other person for that matter other than our client as the rightful candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Edo State Governorship election slated for September, 2024.

It might be needless for us to re-emphasize to you the time honored legal principle enunciated in the case of OJUKWU V. MILITARY GOVERNOR OF LAGOS STATE & ORS (1985) LPELR-21274 (CA) by the pen-ultimate court in our judicial stratification as follows:
“ I believe that the principle has always been that once a defendant has been notified of the pendency of a suit seeking an injunction against him, even though a temporary injunction be not granted, he acts at his peril and subject to the power of the Court to restore the status quo wholly irrespective of the merits as they may be ultimately decided. ( see Daniel v. Ferguson (1891) 2 ch. 27; Von Joel v. Hornsey (1895) 2 ch. 774)“.

Prudence in the circumstance as expected of a law abiding corporate entity like your commission, it is expected that with respect to processes relating to Edo State APC Governorship election, the official indication of your esteemed Commission should indicate that same is fraught with litigation until the substantive determination of the court action relating to same, as this course conforms with the injunction cited in the Ojukwu v. Governor of Lagos State (Supra).

As we look forward to your kind understanding and compliance, please accept the assurances of our client’s compliments and best wishes.

Yours faithfully,

Abdulwahab Umar Esq.
For: Chief Henry Akunebu, SAN.

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