The Court of Appeal has overturned the Federal High Court Katsina judgement, which declared the primary election that produced Muritala Shehu as the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, candidate for the Malumfashi/Kafur Federal Constituency in Katsina State null and void.
Murtala filed an appeal against the ruling of the Federal High Court Katsina, which annulled the primary election in which he defeated Nasiru Sa’ad Ahmed on November 23, 2022.
The Court of Appeal, in a unanimous decision delivered on January 27, 2023, set aside in its entirety the judgment of the Federal High Court, affirming the PDP primary election conducted for Malumfashi/Kafur Constituency and declaring Muritala Shehu, who received the most votes, as the party’s House of Representatives candidate.
However, the appeal was heard only on the basis of the appellant’s brief of argument, because the respondent, Nasiru Sa’ad Ahmed, did not file anything with the court to defend the appeal until he ran out of time.
Reacting to the judgement, Katsina PDP Legal Adviser, Barrister, Mahutta Mustapha, said: “The judgement represents the true position of the PDP primary election conducted on 22 May, 2022 wherein the appellant, Murtala Shehu emerged the winner.
“It also represents the true wish of the delegates from Malumfashi/Kafur Constituency who voted for Murtala Shehu wherein he had 34 votes in the primary election, while his opponent had 29 votes.”
He added that, “certainly, cases between members of the party do not result in anything beneficial to the party. They should unite and support whoever emerges.”