The Supreme Court on Wednesday affirmed Patrick Dakum as the Labour Party (LP) candidate in Plateau State for the Saturday governorship election.

A five-man panel of justices led by Justice Inyang Okoro dismissed an appeal brought before it by Yohanna Margif, a Labour Party aspirant in the state, challenging the nomination of the candidate of the party.

The appeal was dismissed following its dramatic withdrawal by Mr Margif upon discovery that the matter had become statute-barred.

The counsel to the appellant, Opeyemi Ojo, had pleaded with the apex court to invoke section 22 of the Supreme Court Act to take over the matter and resolve all disputed issues in the interest of justice for his client.

His persuasion was, however, rejected on the ground that conditions precedent for the court to invoke section 22 of the Supreme Court Act were not met.

Specifically, the justices reminded the lawyer that both the Court of Appeal and the Federal High Court no longer have jurisdiction that can be invoked by the Supreme Court since the time for the matter to be heard had lapsed.

Confronted with the reality of the futility of his request, the appellant announced the withdrawal of his appeal and was subsequently dismissed by Mr Okoro.

The appellant had, in his brief, challenged the emergence of Mr Dakum as the party’s gubernatorial candidate in Plateau State, insisting that he (Mr Margif) won the governorship primary election of the party and never withdrew his nomination.

The Labour Party, however, in its defence, insisted that Mr Margif, in a letter, voluntarily withdrew his candidacy and copied the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), with the same letter.

The party claimed that following the withdrawal by Mr Margif, a new primary election was conducted in which Mr Dakum emerged, and his name was submitted to INEC.

Mr Margif ignited the first legal battle at the Federal High Court in Jos, but lost as the court upheld the position of LP and declared Mr Dakum as the legitimate governorship candidate of the Labour Party in Plateau State.

Justice Dorcas Agishi, in her judgement on December 9, 2022, affirmed Mr Dakum as the authentic candidate of the party, having followed the party’s guidelines to emerge as the party’s flag bearer.

The judge established that Mr Margif had signed an affidavit to withdraw voluntarily as the governorship candidate of the party, which necessitated the party to conduct a fresh primary.

Not satisfied with the High Court’s decision, Mr Margif approached the Court of Appeal but lost and moved to the Supreme Court for a final decision.

(NAN)