Ibraheem Hamza Muhammam
The Federal High Court in Lafia, Nasarawa State, has declared Hon Mohammed-Mu’azu Atose as the winner and authentic candidate produced by the primary election of All Progressives Congress (APC) conducted on May 28 for Keana State-Constituency of Nasarawa State.
Hon Atose had dragged APC to court for unlawful substitution of his name as the candidate of the party with the incumbent lawmakers, Hon Mohammed Omadefu.
Delivering judgement on Wednesday in Lafia, Justice Nehezina Afolabi, declared Atose as the winner of the election.
She also directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not to accord any recognition to Omadefu as he is not the candidate of APC in the constituency.
Justice Afolabi also directed APC to give Atose, the winner of the primary, the recognition and support he deserved as their candidate.
She, therefore, directed Omadefu, who is also the serving member representing Keana in the Nasarawa State House of Assembly, to stop parading himself as the candidate of the party.
Reacting to the judgement, Mohammed Oshafu, Counsel to the plaintiff (Atose), commended the judge for deciding the case on its merit.
“We presented all the evidence before the court to show that our client was the winner of the election and thank God the court entered judgement in our favour,” the Counsel added.
After the judgement, Hon Atose thanked God for vindicating them and he described the judgement as victory for democracy and the people of Keana Constituency.
The politician called on all the people of the constituency to support him to win the general election for the growth and development of the area, the state and Nigeria in general.