An ex-parte motion filed by Olusegun Abraham, one of the governorship aspirants of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the September 3, 2016 governorship primary of the party in Ondo State, will be heard by Justice Nnamdi Dimgba of a Federal High Court in Abuja won October 28, 2016. Abraham, in the ex-parte motion filed by his counsel, Professor Akinseyi George on October 7, 2016 is asking the court to prevent the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from accepting Rotimi Akeredolu as APC’s authentic candidate for the November 26, 2016 gubernatorial election in the state.
Attached with the exparte motion are 10 and 86 paragraphs affidavit deposed to by Dr. Olusegun Michael Abraham on the 7th of October, with 15 annexures to support the motion. Akinseyi said, “In an urgent application of this nature, the court has a duty to prevent irreparable damage which will be done if the interim order sought is not granted.” Joined as defendants in the case are the APC, Akeredolu and INEC.
According to Dimgba in a bench ruling, “In a matter of sensitive nature like this, it will be fair if all parties to the suit are present in court before an order is made. In my view, in the circumstances of the entirety of this case, it will not be proper granting the preservatory order sought without hearing from the other parties. It will be in the interest of justice to order the respondents to appear before me on October 28, 2016, by noon to explain why the preservatory order should not be granted.This motion is hereby adjourned till October 28, 2016 for the respondents to appear in court to explain why the orders sought by the applicant should not be granted,” he added.