APC urges court to stop Kwara LG poll

The All Progressives Congress on Monday prayed an Ilorin High Court to stop the Kwara State Independent Electoral Commission from conducting the local government election scheduled for Saturday.
The party and six candidates filed the motion for an injunction to restrain the electoral body from conducting the election.
The motion filed by the party’s lawyer, Deji Gbadeyan, urged Justice Suleiman Kawu to hear the matter on Tuesday in view of its urgency.
Gbadeyan filed the Motion on Notice supported by a 10-paragraph affidavit deposed to by one Ayodeji Kudabo from Gbadeyan’s Chambers.
Joined in the suit were the Kwara State Government, the Peoples Democratic Party, Labour Party, Social Democratic Party, Peoples Democratic Movement and Independent Democrats.
The plaintiffs averred that KWASIEC and PDP were bent on conducting and participating in the said elections on Saturday, knowing well that all the parties concerned were in court over the matter.
They prayed the court for an order of injunction restraining KWSIEC from conducting any election on Saturday into the councils of the state.
The APC argued that a matter challenging the validity, legality and the constitutionality of the said proposed election is sub judice and pending before the court in suit No KW/251/2013 for determination.
The plaintiffs also prayed the court to restrain PDP, LP, PDM and the Independent Democrats from holding themselves or presenting themselves or participating in the said elections.
The claimants averred that KWSIEC was a party before the court and should respect it by not foisting a fait accompli situation on the court.
They said that a substantive matter in the case was before the court and had already been adjourned to November 7 for hearing.
The APC further said there was no way the election could be conducted when the timetable, guidelines and the notice of election were said to be incompetent, illegal and ineffective.
The party said these issues among others were pending for determination before the court.
The plaintiffs noted that any election conducted by KWSIEC on Saturday while the matter was still pending before the court would be tantamount to arbitrary use of power of the executive.
While praying the court to refrain the defendants from going ahead with the election, the plaintiffs argued that the matter was a pre-election matter over which there were no restrictions of time of deliberation and determination.
KWASIEC, in a 26-paragraph counter affidavit deposed to by the KWSIEC Commissioner in-Charge of Legal Matters, Tajudeen Ahmed, agreed that the matter was already in court.
The commission, however, said that its actions were guided by the relevant state and electoral laws as well as the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
KWSIEC prayed the court to refuse APC’s request for injunction on the grounds that the tenure of the present local government councils would expire on November 27.
It further urged the court to consider the fact that the APC had earlier filed a similar suit in No KWS/124/13 and later abandoned same before filing the current one before the court.