Enyong is ousted from the Akwa Ibom PDP governorship race by the court, and Eno is reinstated.

Michael Enyong, a member of the House of Representatives, has been disqualified by the Court of Appeal Abuja from running for governor of Akwa Ibom State on behalf of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

The Federal High Court in Abuja overturned Mister Umo Eno’s nomination by the party on January 20, 2023, and the Court reinstated him.

In her ruling on Tuesday, Judge Hamma Barka declared the Federal High Court’s decision invalid and overturned it on the grounds that it was founded on mistakes.

Judge Barka concurred with Umo Eno’s attorneys that the Federal High Court judgment had been rendered incorrectly and that the plaintiff had deceived the court into reaching an unjust verdict.

The appellate court determined that the question of statutory delegates who participated in the primary election is a matter for the party’s internal affairs and that the lower court shouldn’t have looked into it.

Judge Barka concurred that only a political party’s National Working Committee has the authority to hold primaries for the purpose of nominating candidates for the general election.

The appellate court additionally ruled that the judge lacked legal discretion to investigate the PDP’s internal issues because the lower court lacked the authority to do so.

After that, Judge Barka upheld the PDP’s appeal and nullified all the orders imposed by the Federal High Court’s ruling in Michael Enyong’s favor.

The Court further mandated that Mr. Michael Enyong pay N1 million to the appellant as court costs.