A legal practitioner, Obunike Calistus Ohaegbu, has dragged the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, before the Federal High Court in Abuja over the refusal of the party’s national leadership to announce the result of the primary election conducted for Nnewi North/Nnewi South/Ekwusigo Federal Constituency of Anambra State.
The aggrieved lawyer, in a suit filed against five defendants, is praying the court for an order compelling the NDC to announce the result of the primary election conducted in May 2026 for the purpose of nominating a candidate for the 2027 general election.
Listed as defendants in the suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1219/26, are the NDC, Dr Ebere Onunkwo, Dr Socrates Ebo, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Mr Peter Uzokwe as the first to fifth defendants respectively.
The legal practitioner, among other things, claimed that he participated in the primary election and scored the majority of the lawful votes cast at the primary.
He, however, asserted that the NDC refused to declare the result of the primary election at the venue and instead secretly adopted Ebere Onunkwo as the nominated candidate for the federal constituency, in breach of the party’s guidelines for the primary election.
Obunike is therefore seeking an order directing the NDC to declare him the winner of the primary election conducted for Nnewi North/Nnewi South/Ekwusigo Federal Constituency.
The plaintiff is also seeking another order compelling the NDC to submit and upload his name and particulars to INEC as its duly nominated candidate for Nnewi North/Nnewi South/Ekwusigo Federal Constituency.
Besides, the plaintiff also applied for an order restraining the NDC, whether by itself, its officers, agents or privies, from submitting or recognising any other person as its candidate for Nnewi North/Nnewi South/Ekwusigo Federal Constituency.
The lawyer also prayed the court for an order restraining INEC from accepting, recognising, publishing or acting upon the name of any person other than the plaintiff as the candidate of the party for Nnewi North/Nnewi South/Ekwusigo Federal Constituency.
At Monday’s proceedings, hearing could not go on following the discovery by the court that the second, third and fifth defendants had not been served with the mandatory hearing notice and were not in court.
Although counsel to the plaintiff, Ifeanyi Nrilike, confirmed to Justice Mohammed Garba Umar that the parties had filed and exchanged the necessary processes, the judge directed that hearing notices be served on those who were not in court for them to be present in court.
Justice Umar consequently fixed October 14 for hearing of the suit and ordered that there must be evidence that hearing notices had been served on all the parties before the adjourned date.