By DADA AYOKHAI
The legal battle embarked upon by Mr Johnson Afagase to have him as the duly recognized APC House of candidate , Akoko Edo federal constituency suffered a huge setback following the reaffirmation of Hon Peter Akpatason by the Federal High Court sitting in Benin, Edo State, as the bonafide APC candidate.
Having failed to get redress from the national leadership of the party, with all pleas falling on deaf ears on the issue of who is to fly the flag of the party at the poll, Hon Afagase resorted to mounting a fierce legal battle to reclaim what he considered to be his “freely given mandate”
He had approached the courts to challenge the basis of the claims by Hon Akpatason to be the APC candidate for the Akoko Edo federal candidacy election.
Banking on the courts as a last resort, Hon Afagase, through his counsel, Mr. Usman Sule, SAN, had argued that the delegates who voted for Hon Akpatason at the parallel congress were not those duly elected by the party.
But the court discountenanced the argument put up by Hon Afagase’s counsel and ruled that party primaries were the internal affairs of political parties as dictated and directed by their respective national working committees.
By implication, the court dismissed the suit and proceeded to reaffirm Hon Akpatason as the APC candidate for the Akoko Edo federal constituency election.
Recall Hon Akpatason is going for the same seat for the fourth time in a row, a development that does not go down well with a lot of the party leaders in the local government.
A crestfallen Hon Afagase, while speaking with a battery of journalists after the judgment, said he will soon make public his next line of action after due consultations with his legal team and party stakeholders in the area.
Hon Afagase is no doubt a frontline APC member in Akoko Edo. The court decision will certainly dampen his enthusiasm and that of his numerous supporters.
Some of the ardent supporters of Hon Afagase who were present on the premises of the court to lend their support, said they are unhappy with the treatment meted out to him.
According to the supporters, the likely hood of going for an Appeal Court is very bright.
They added that It will be a tough task to rule out the possibility of voting against the candidature of Hon Akpatason, insisting he (Akpatason) is neither the choice of the party nor that of the people.
