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JUST IN: Appeal Court nullifies Section 84(12), says appointees don’t have to resign to contest party primaries

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The Court of Appeal, Abuja, on Wednesday nullified the controversial Section 84(12) of the Electoral Act.

The contentious section requires public office holders with designs on the 2023 elections to resign their appointments at least three months before the parties’ primaries.

Justice Evelyn Anyadike of the Federal High Court, Umuahia, had on March 18 ordered the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, to delete the section.

The three-member panel of the appellate court headed by Justice Hamma Akawu Barka held that the lower court lacked the jurisdiction to adjudicate in the case filed by one Nduka Edede.


READ ALSO:Senate amends Electoral Act to allow president, govs, others vote at parties’ primaries

The panel stressed that Edede lacked the locus standi to have filed the suit in the first place.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had earlier challenged President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive to the National Assembly to remove the section of the Electoral Act at the Federal High Court, Abuja.

In the application, the PDP also sought an order of the court restraining the National Assembly from effecting Buhari’s request to remove the section.

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