APC guber aspirant sues Cole, wants Rivers primary cancelled

All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Tonye Cole, has been dragged to court by an aggrieved governorship aspirant in the just-concluded party primary in Rivers State, Mr. Benard Mikko, over alleged violation of Electoral Act and his (Cole) indictment by a panel

Mikko, in a suit at the Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, is asking the court to restrain Cole from parading himself as the governorship candidate of the APC following his disqualification for alleged questionable character as contained in the white paper report of Rivers State Commission of Inquiry.

The applicant, in the suit, argued that despite the indictment by the panel report, he (Cole) went ahead to contest the party’s primaries.

When the matter was mentioned before the presiding judge, yesterday, Justice Phoebe Ayua, the judge granted the application by the counsel for the plaintiff , Usman Sule, to serve the defendants court process through substituted means.

Justice Ayua, thereafter, adjourned the matter till July 8 for reports of service and hearing on application for jointer by counsel for Ojukaye Flag-Amachree , another aspirant seeking to be joined in the matter.

Speaking to newsmen outside the courtroom, counsel for Mikko, Sule, explained: “My client is suing Tonye Cole and APC for not complying with Electoral Acts in the last primary election. The court has adjourned for us to come back. We are to serve Cole, the first defendant and once he is served, his day starts to run.

“We are seeking for that primary to be nullified because it alters the Electoral Act. Secondly, Cole is not a man of substance to the extent that there is a panel report against his person and Chibuike Amaechi.”

On his part, a legal representative of the APC and Cole, Achi Wobodo Williams, who stood in for Tuduru Edeh (SAN), said it was unfortunate that the plaintiff relied on a section of the Constitution that has been deleted. He said, however, they will appear on the next adjourned date to respond to the process by the applicant.