The court of Appeal Yola, sitting in Jalingo, on Thursday ordered a stay of execution of the judgement of the federal high court Jalingo, which disqualified the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Sani Abubakar Danladi, from contesting the Saturday governorship election in the state.
The presiding judge, Justice Chidi Nwaoma Uwa, ruled in favour of the APC and Sani Abubakar Danladi on the motion EX-PARTE and order of interim injunction filed by counsel, demanding the stay of execution of the judgement delivered by the Federal High Court Jalingo and to restrain the respondents from executing the judgement and orders of the court, pending the determination of motion on notice filed by the applicants.
“The parties are to maintain the status quo ante bellum and are to stay action and or steps towards the execution of the judgement of the federal high court. An interim order of injunction is hereby ordered, restraining the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th respondents from taking any steps towards the execution of the said judgement.”
Counsel to the APC Barrister Chia Elijah who briefed journalists after the ruling said that it became pertinent for the judgement of the federal high court to be stayed pending the outcome of the appeal so that the candidate would not be denied the right to participate at the election.
“In view of the proximity of the order of the federal high court to the conduct of the governorship election in the state, and the fact the APC candidate has the right of appeal against that judgement and has filed a notice of appeal, if the order is not stayed and the election is conducted, he would have suffered injury in the sense that his right to contest at the election would have been denied, and the outcome of the appeal would have been rendered nugatory, like medicine after death.
As such, the appeal court has ordered that the status quo be maintained pending the outcome of the appeal. The implication is that all the orders of the federal high court are stayed pending the ruling of the appeal.”
Reacting to the order, the state chairman of the party Ibrahim Tukur El-Sudi hailed the appeal court for “allowing justice to prevail and urged the people to come out massively and ensure that they vote for the candidates of the APC on Saturday to herald a new era of positive change in the state.”
Justice Stephen Pam of the federal high court Jalingo, on Wednesday ruled on the case of age falsification brought against Sani Abubakar Danladi by Usman Udi and three others, said Danladi had filed a different date of birth to the third defendant, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from the one on his West African Examination Council certificate (WAEC) and so declared the information he supplied to the INEC as false, and disqualified him from contesting the Saturday governorship election in the state.
At the time of filling this report there was jubilation on the streets of Jalingo in regard to the court order.
