THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said the nomination of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Candidate Ahmed Bola Tinubu was “invalid, null and void.“
PDP spokesperson Debo Ologunagba made the party’s position known to newsmen at a press conference in Abuja on Saturday.
The party hinged the “illegality” of Tinubu’s nomination on a September 30, 2022, judgment which nullified the actions of the governor of Yobe State, Mai Mala Buni, when he was the immediate past chairman of the APC national caretaker committee.
Under Buni’s leadership, the party conducted a convention that produced Abdullahi Adamu as the national chairman.
In June, the Adamu-led executive conducted a presidential primary election where Tinubu polled 1,271 votes to defeat 13 others.
The PDP said Buni’s action as a serving governor and chairman of the caretaker committee was in contravention of Section 183 of the constitution.
The party quoted Section 183 of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 Constitution (as amended), which indicates that ‘a state governor shall not, during the period when he holds office, hold any other executive office or paid employment in any capacity whatsoever.’
Ologunagba said, “The import of the September 30, 2022 judgment of the Federal High Court is that every decision made by Governor Mai Mala Buni as Chairman of the APC is null and void as you cannot place something on nothing and expect it to stand.
“Consequently, the Congresses, as well as the National Convention which produced APC Excos, including the Sen. Adamu Abdullahi-led NWC, is void.
“In effect, the primaries and Presidential Convention conducted by the Sen. Adamu Abdullahi-led NWC, including the nomination of Sen. Ahmed Bola Tinubu as Presidential Candidate of the APC is invalid, null and void ab-initio.”
The APC has, however, dismissed Ologunagba’s statement, saying he should seek clarification.
APC spokesperson Felix Morka stated that the Federal High Court’s judgment was flawed.
Morka said that the committee was duly constituted by the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the APC, and everything done by the caretaker committee was duly ratified by the national convention, the party’s highest decision-making organ.
Morka maintained that his party stands on a strong legal ground and was unperturbed by the decision of the court.
“I am confident that the decision will not pass appellate court’s scrutiny. For one, the decision flies in the face of a valid and subsisting majority Supreme Court decision in Akeredolu’s case, which settled the question as to the validity of the Mai Mala Buni Caretaker Committee,” he said.
You can reach out to me on Twitter via: vincent_ufuoma