According to constitutional attorney Fred Nzeako, the Supreme Court’s decision to send the African Democratic Congress (ADC) back to the Federal High Court is not a blow to the party.
The Supreme Court returned the case to the Federal High Court while overturning the Court of Appeal’s decision that forbade Senator David Mark’s leadership as the National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress, or ADC, from being acknowledged.
The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that the Court of Appeal’s preservative ruling was unlawful, superfluous, unjustified, and made in ill faith.
Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba of the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the Court of Appeal should not have made such an order because none of the parties involved requested it.
David Mark and Aregbesola were de-recognized by INEC as a result of the Court of Appeal’s earlier status quo ante bellum judgment.
A lot of people, particularly African Democratic Congress supporters, believed that the Supreme Court’s ruling was a trap and a significant blow to the party’s advancement before the general elections.
Ezeako, however, stated on Arise News that “I don’t think the Supreme Court asking them to go back to the Federal High Court is a setback.”I’ll explain why it isn’t. As we speak, David Mark is leading the ADC. Their viewpoint is not disqualified by a court ruling. The party’s NEC has chosen them.Senator David Mark is in charge of ADC’s leadership. I cautioned INEC about their future activities because the court case may still be pending, which is why I believe they are not in a difficult spot. According to David Mark’s leadership law, they have no excuse not to communicate with him. Give notice. Whether INEC observes or not is their affair, and it does not negate the convention after you have given them that notice of 21 days, which they did in abundance.
They must comply with the legal requirements. It is now up to INEC to decide whether or not to observe.
One of the main topics of discussion has been INEC’s timeline, which states that all political parties must submit their membership registers by May 10. Indeed, holding a general election does not require a membership registration.
You don’t since every Nigerian has the legal right to cast a ballot, even if they are not required to be members of political parties. To hold the election, all you need is for your own people to register.What is the essence of the party register, you might wonder? This is merely to make sure that all party members participate in direct primaries, which is a very evil clause that the National Assembly included to the Electoral Act.They are aware of their motivation. The main reason they did it was to hurt the opposing parties because they stipulated that you may choose by direct primaries or by consensus.Why is indirect primarie problematic?We have often maintained that there is nothing wrong with either direct or indirect primaries; nonetheless, direct primaries are akin to holding a national election since they need voting across the nation.
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