Kenneth Imansuagbon, an aspirant in the Labour Party (LP), has taken the party’s candidate Olumide Akpata, the Labour Party, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to the Court of Appeal. This follows decisions by the Federal High Court in Benin City and Abuja that dismissed Imansuagbon’s challenge to the party’s governorship primary election that selected Akpata as the LP candidate.
Imansuagbon contends that the trial judge in the Abuja case made a legal error by dismissing his suit based on the statute of limitations, without properly considering relevant constitutional provisions. He argues that the court’s decision, which deemed the suit statute-barred, led to a miscarriage of justice. Specifically, he claims that the court miscalculated the timeline for filing pre-election matters, counting from March 24, 2024, to April 12, 2024, and wrongly concluded that the suit was filed too late.
Imansuagbon is seeking an order from the Court of Appeal to overturn the lower court’s decision and direct the Labour Party to issue him a certificate of return as the winner of the primary election held on February 23, 2024. He is challenging the Federal High Court’s rulings on multiple grounds, including the failure to properly address a motion for extension of time filed by the defendants, which he argues violated his right to a fair hearing.
The appeal aims to set aside the lower court’s decision and strike out all processes filed by the defendants.
