A Federal High Court sitting in Benin has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to recognize and publish the names of candidates produced by the Governor Godwin Obaseki faction of the Edo Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as standard-bearers of the party in the forthcoming 2023 elections.
In a judgement delivered on Tuesday, September 27, 2022 by Hon. Justice S.M Shuaibu, the Court granted all the reliefs sought by the plaintiffs.
Amongst the reliefs sought by the plaintiffs is an Order of Court mandating the fourth defendant, INEC, to publish their names as the validly elected candidates of the Edo PDP for the 2023 general elections.
The Judge noted that based on past decisions by the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal, the state chapter of a political party is not empowered by law to conduct party primaries and that only the National Working Committee (NWC) of a political party has the power to conduct party primaries.
