An aspirant to the House of Representatives on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr. Abdulkabir Lawal, has sued the party’s chairman in Lagos, Capt. Olatunji Shelle (retd.), for allegedly transferring his mandate to one Adebola Gbabijo.
Lawal accused Shelle of giving the party’s mandate to Gbabijo, who polled 28 votes in the PDP primary where Lawal claimed to have been declared winner with 29 votes.
The applicant, on Tuesday, appeared before a Federal High Court in Lagos, seeking a declaration that he is the bonafide PDP candidate representing Epe Federal Constituency for election into the House of Representatives.
Lawal, through his lawyer, Dr. Yemi Oke, prayed Justice Mohammed Yunusa to order the Independent National Electoral Commission to expunge Gbabijo’s name from its register and replace same with his own.
Joined as respondents in the action, marked FHC/AB/CS/43/2015, are Shelle, Gbabijo, the PDP and INEC.
Though the applicant, through a motion ex parte, urged Yunusa to make an order of interim injunction restraining INEC from recognising Gbabijo, the judge, however, declined and rather asked that the respondents should be served with the court’s papers.
He subsequently adjourned till March 16, 2015 for hearing of the substantive suit.
“The respondents should be served with all the processes in relation to the motion on notice,” Yunusa said
