A Federal High Court in Benin, presided over by Justice Babatunde Quadri, has reserved judgement for the 19th of July, 2024 in the legal tussle for the validity of the Labour Party (LP) governorship primary election conducted on February 23, 2024.
Imansuangbon had approached the Federal High Court in Benin and Abuja challenging the nomination of Barrister Olumide Akpata as the candidate of the party for the gubernatorial election slated for September 21st, 2024.
Kenneth Imansuangbon is challenging the nomination of Akpata on the grounds that the LP did not follow the electoral guidelines for the primary poll and that he (Olumide Akpata) did not fill and sign the indemnity form among other grounds.
After two adjournments in the suit filed at the Court in Benin, the case eventually came up for hearing on Tuesday where written addresses from counsels of the plaintiff and defendants were adopted.
Lead Counsel to the Plaintiff, A. A. Malik (SAN), in his argument, had prayed the court to dismiss the submission of the counsels to Akpata on the grounds that the 1st defendant violated the Electoral Act and party’s constitution, which he noted were critical elements of the electoral processes.
Malik also pointed out that the plaintiff had disclosed reasonable cause of action on the matter and urged the court to throw away the submission of the 1st defendant, declare and return the plaintiff as the winner or in the alternative void, nullify the primary election and order a fresh election.
He alleged that the conduct of the LP primaries was marred by over voting which ran contrary to the party’s guidelines and the constitution.
On his part, the counsel to the defendant and running mate to Akpata, Kadiri Asamah (SAN), submitted the argument that the submission of plaintiff was baseless and could not be litigated upon by the court, adding that it was a pre-primary issue and, as such, should be dismissed by the court.
Asamah while adopting all the arguments contained in his written address, urged the court to dismiss the written address of the plaintiff, adding that it was an abuse of court processes.
Addressing newsmen after the court session, Barrister Kenneth Imansuangbon expressed confidence in the ability of the court to dispense justice in the matter, even as he reiterated his desire to bring about a better Edo State for all.
