Donald Duke sacked as SDP Presidential candidate

Donald Duke has been sacked as SDP Presidential candidate by an FCT High Court in Maitama, which also declared Prof. Jerry Gana as the party’s Presidential candidate.

Donald Duke who was sacked as SDP Presidential candidate, had previously been declared winner of the presidential primary election of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, conducted on October 6. It was alleged that he polled 812 votes while Gana had 611.
However after the former Minister of Information challenged the result in court and sought to be declared the winner in line with the zoning and rotation formula of the party’s constitution, Justice Hussein Baba-Yusuf held that the regulations contained in the party’s constitution were binding on every member and must be obeyed.

The Judge further stated that the zoning and rotation formula as contained in the party’s constitution, stipulated that both the chairman of the party and the flag bearer should not come from the same region.

“In this instance, the party’s Chairman, Chief Olu Falae, is from the South and Duke is from the South too; the law is clear; there is nothing to write in-between.
“The law has crystallised that political parties should abide by the regulations which they have made by themselves.
“The claimant laid sufficient evidence to have the judgment in his favour; it is a clear violation of the party’s constitution; the court cannot wave right over illegality,” he held.

With this, Justice Hussein Baba-Yusuf declared Duke’s 812 votes null and void, and ordered SDP to forward Gana’s name to INEC as the party’s flag bearer for the 2019 presidential election.