The Court of Appeal on Wednesday set aside the judgment of the Federal High Court in Umuahiaa, Abia State, which voided the provision of Section 84 (12) of the Electoral Act 2022.
A three-member panel of the court headed by Justice Hamma Akawu Barka held that the Federal High Court Umuahia had no jurisdiction to entertain the case because the plaintiff, Nduka Edede, lacked the locus standi to have filed the suit in the first place.
The Abia court had declared the section illegal and a violation of the provisions of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
This section states that “No political appointees at any level shall be a voting delegate or be voted for at the Convention or Congress of any political party for the purpose of the nomination of candidates for any election”.
The section bars political appointees such as ministers, commissioners, special advisers, and personal assistants in federal and state governments from voting as delegates or being voted for in a political party primary.
Already, some appointees of President Muhammadu Buhari have declared their intention to run for elective offices while still occupying their positions.
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