The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja, on Tuesday, has declared Musa Wada as the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the November 16, 2019 election in the state.
Wada had lost the election to the incumbent governor, Yahaya Bello, who contested the poll on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC.
He is now challenging the outcome of the election at the Kogi State Governorship Election Petition sitting in Abuja.
Justice Roland Olorunfemi of Kogi State High Court had sacked Wada as a candidate of the PDP on the grounds that the party did not conduct valid primaries.
The suit was instituted by Wada’s rivals in the party led by Abubakar Idris.
Following Wada’s appeal against the judgment, a three-man bench of the Court of Appeal in Abuja led by Justice Ibrahim Saulawa in its judgment on Tuesday, upturned the lower court’s verdict.
The appellate court held that it was wrong for the lower court to raise an issue on its own and determine same without hearing the parties.
“Every order made by the trial high court that there was no primary election and that the appellant was not a candidate in the election is hereby set aside”, the court held.
