Eseme Eyiboh Head to the Supreme Court

Following the Court of Appeal ruling upturning the verdict of the Abuja High Court that gave the Eket Federal Constituency seat to him, Hon Eseme Eyiboh, member of the House of Representatives representing Eket Federal Constituency has approached the nation’s apex court, The Supreme Court asking it to invalidate the ruling of the Appeal Court.
The former chairman, house committee on media, is challenging the ruling on the appeal brought to the Appeal Court by Barr Dan Abia, challenging the ruling of Justice Abdul Kafarati, on points of law and jurisdiction.
The Appeal Court had in its ruling nullified the PDP re-run primary held in Uyo. The court agreed with the lower court that the re-run did not comply with the party’s guideline as well as the 2010 Electoral Act. The Appeal Court, however, in the wisdom of the honourable justices reactivated the earlier PDP primary that the party had cancelled to arrive at its order that Barr Abia should take the contentious Eket constituency seat.
Dissatisfied with the ruling Eyiboh the same day filed a motion for stay of execution as well as a injunction restraining the Assembly leadership from carrying out the court’s order pending the outcome of the Supreme Court appeal.
In a telephone reaction, Hon Eyiboh said, “I am, as usual, calm and leaving everything in God’s hands”
The Court of Appeal had in a judgment it delivered friday, ordered the leadership of the lower chamber to forthwith swear-in the declared winner of the constituency, Mr. Dan Bassey Abia as the authentic candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for the election.

In the unanimous judgment read by Justice Ayo Bada, the appellate court, maintained that “the primary election of the PDP held on the 7th and 8th January through which Dan Bassey Abia emerged as the party’s candidate for the April elections is hereby upheld as it was the primary that was monitored by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC and annexed in the suit.”
According to the court, “The trial judge erred by saying that the name of Abia be removed and replaced with that of Eyibo.
The party primary is the exclusive right of a political party as the party determines who its candidate in an election should.