APGA governorship candidate, Chukwuma Soludo
A Federal High Court, sitting in Awka, Anambra State and presided over by Justice Hyeladzira Nganjiwa, has declined an application to stop Prof. Chukwuma Soludo as the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance in the November 6 poll in the state.
The court dismissed the application of an order of mandamus filed by a factional leader of APGA, Chief Edozie Njoku.
Njoku was seeking the court to recognise him as the National Chairman of APGA so as to authorise his faction to conduct the governorship primary election to produce the party’s candidate in the poll.
Njoku had through his lawyer, Sopulu Ezeonwuka, approached the court vide Suit No. FHC/AWK/CS/35/2021 praying the court to inter alia, recognize him (Chief Edozie Njoku) as the National Chairman of APGA and to compel him to conduct primary election on behalf of APGA.
But in a ruling on Thursday, the court held that the reliefs sought by the applicant were substantially the same as the reliefs sought in the substantive suit.
The court ruled that granting such application would prejudice the hearing of the substantive suit before the court.
The factional APGA group had on Tuesday held a primary election of the party at Finotel Hotel, Awka, amidst tight security where Chief Edozie Njoku emerged as the governorship candidate of the party.
The mainstream APGA led by Chief Victor Oye on July 26 in a primary election held at the Prof Dora Akunyili Women’s Development Centre, elected Soludo as the candidate of the party in the November 6 poll.