Facts
The Appellant contested and emerged the winner of the 1st Respondent’s rescheduled primary election conducted on 4th June 2022 with 46 out of 74 votes cast, for the election of candidate for the Ezza-North/Ishielu Federal Constituency of Ebonyi State for the House of Representatives’ election in 2023. The 3rd Respondent also partook in the re-scheduled primaries where he recorded zero votes cast. The zero vote notwithstanding, the 1st Respondent’s preferred candidate was the 3rd Respondent, consequent upon which the 1st Respondent approached the Appellant to ask for his withdrawal from the race.
Owing to the Appellant’s refusal to back down from the race, the 1st Respondent forward the 3rd Respondent’s name to the 2nd Respondent on 17th June 2022, as its candidate for the said Federal Constituency for the 2023 election into the House of Representatives. Aggrieved by the actions of the 1st Respondent, the Appellant commenced an action via Originating Summons at the Federal High Court, Abakaliki (the “trial court”) filed on 29th June 2022, where the Appellant challenged the submission of the 3rd Respondent’s name to the 2nd Respondent in lieu of his name and sought declaratory reliefs that the substitution was null and void.
In a judgement delivered by the trial court on 28th July 2022, which shows a “scanty review of the affidavit evidence before that court, no evaluation of the evidence was even attempted and no reasons, howsoever, were stated for the conclusion that … the suit lacks merit and resolving all the issues in favour of the 3rd Defendant against the Plaintiff” (Appellant herein).
