The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Monday upheld Lawal Usman as the authentic candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for Kaduna Central Senatorial District for the 2023 general elections. The Appeal Court also set aside a Federal High Court judgment that nullified the party’s primary and ordered a re-run election which made Ibrahim Usman winner.
Ibrahim Usman had challenged the victory of Lawal Usman at the PDP primary.
The three-man Panel led by Justice Peter Affen, in their judgment held that the lower court which ordered election re-run acted outside its jurisdiction by interfering with the internal workings of a party.
The presiding judge of the Federal High Court in Kaduna, Justice Umar, had nullified the PDP primary election held on 23 May 2022 and ordered a re-run within 14 days.
Ibrahim Usman was later declared winner of the PDP rerun primary for Kaduna Central Senatorial district.
The Appeal Court, however, reinstated Lawal Usman, in its judgment, as PDP senatorial candidate.