A Federal High Court in Abuja has delayed the APC Delta South ticket dispute after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) failed to appear.
According to daily post,the court fixed a new date to allow the electoral body to take part in the case.
Former Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC) Chairman, Prince Micheal Diden, filed the suit. He is challenging the emergence of Senator Joel Onowakpo as the APC candidate for the 2027 Delta South Senatorial election. Diden insisted that he won the party’s primary election.
During Monday’s proceedings, Diden’s lawyer told the court that INEC received the hearing notice. However, the commission did not appear in court. As a result, Justice Mohammed Garba Umar refused to continue with the matter. Instead, he adjourned the case until July 13.
Meanwhile, Diden claimed he scored the highest number of valid votes in the primary election. He also alleged that the result used to declare Onowakpo the winner was forged. Therefore, he asked the court to declare him the lawful APC candidate. In addition, he wants the APC to submit his name to INEC.
However, Senator Onowakpo and the APC have continued to support the primary election outcome. Even so, the court decided to wait until every party is present. Consequently, the judge postponed further proceedings.
The APC Delta South ticket case will now return to court on July 13. Until then, the dispute over the party’s candidate for Delta South remains unresolved.
