Okafor Ifiebor/Rivers

A Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt presided over by Justice Kolawole Omotosho has ruled that the direct and indirect primaries conducted by the Rivers State chapter of All Progressives Congress to select candidates for the 2019 general elections are illegal, null and void.

The court therefore restrained INEC from recognising any candidates of APC for the 2019 general elections in Rivers State .

The court ruled specifically that the APC cannot participate in the Governorship, Senate, House of Representatives and House of Assembly elections during the 2019 polls in Rivers State and nullified all nominations of the APC in Rivers State for the forthcoming elections in 2019.

Ruling on the suit filed by Senator Magnus Abe and others versus Rivers APC and others, Justice Omotosho declared that the APC failed to respect the law and must bear the consequences of her disobedience of the law.

The court said the APC conducted the indirect primaries in gross disrespect of the pending suit before Justice Chinwendu Nwogu of the Rivers State High Court and noted that the judgment of Justice Nwogu that nullified the primaries of the APC in Rivers State is yet to be set aside by an appellate court.

This means the names sent by the Amaechi faction and the National Working Committee of the APC to INEC for the 2019 General elections were illegal and should be disregarded, the court ruled.