A Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt on Wednesday passed a judgement allowing the National Assembly candidates of the All Progressives Congress in Rivers State to take part in the 2023 general elections.
In a suit filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State, they had sought the court to disqualify the APC National Assembly candidates for alleged non-compliance with the Electoral Act in the conduct of the party primaries.
The PDP also prayed to the court to direct the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to delist the names of the APC candidates from the election.
However, the presiding judge, Justice Turaki Muhammed struck out the matter for lacking in merit, based on an earlier judgement by the Court of Appeal which barred political parties from interfering in the internal affairs of other parties.
The lawyer to the APC, Emenike Ebete, who spoke to journalists, said the judgement has given the APC candidates the freedom to contest in next year’s elections.
Meanwhile, counsel to PDP declined to comment on the judgement.
