▪orders INEC to enlist  Precious  Baridoo as Rivers Accord  Governorship Candidate

Okafor Ofiebor/Port Harcourt

A Federal High Court in Port Harcourt on Thursday sacked the governorship candidate of Accord Party, Mr Dumo Lulu Briggs, barring him from participating in the 2019 Governorship Election scheduled for Saturday,  March 9, 2019.

The Court declared that Mr Precious Baridoo was duly nominated by the party during the October 4, 2018 Rivers Accord party primary as the authentic candidate of the party.

The court, presided over by Justice Emmanuel Obile therefore declared that Mr Dumo Lulu Briggs cannot participate in the Governorship  Election  because he was not duly nominated at the party’s primary.

Justice Obile stated Lulu Briggs did not participate in the party’s October 4, 2018 Governorship primary, hence he cannot be their candidate.

The Court stated that the defendants failed to challenge the affidavit of the plaintiff or controvert the facts contained therein.

Justice Obile therefore ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to enlist the name of Precious Baridoo as the Rivers State Governorship Candidate of Accord Party.

The court directed INEC to remove the name of Dumo Lulu Briggs as the Rivers State governorship candidate for Accord Party .

It will be recalled that Baridoo told the court that he was duly nominated during the party’s governorship primaries on October 4, 2018 before he was illegally substituted with Chief Lulu Briggs who didn’t participate in the party’s governorship primaries.

He stated that Chief  Lulu Briggs cannot claim to be the governorship candidate of Accord Party when he was not even a member of the party.

Counsel to Precious Baridoo,  Mr Wori Wori described  the judgment  as victory for democracy.  He said that the rules of political engagement must be respected.

Lawyer to Dumo Lulu Briggs stated  that he will challenge  the judgment  at the Court of Appeal.

It would be recalled that Lulu Briggs who hails from Abonnema in Akuku-Toru local government area of and of Kalabari extraction was an aspirant for the gubernatorial ticket of All Progressives Congress.

However, he left the party Tonye Cole was elected as its flag bearer with the active support of Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, the Transportation Minister.

He defected to the Accord Party and became its Governorship candidate.

Meanwhile, Chris Finebone, Spokesman of All Progressives Congress, in his reaction said it was clear that Governor Wike has hand in the sacking of Dumo Lulu Briggs just as he used prominent members of APC to cause crisis in it so that he will not have strong challengers in the March 9 Governorship election.

However, Governor Wike has always denied the allegations, accusing the parties in the state fof not obeying their own internal rules and regulations of choosing the candidates which the Courts tried to correct.