AN Ilorin High Court Friday dismissed an application for an order seeking to restrain the Kwara State Independent Electoral Commission (KWSIEC) from conducting today’s council election in the state.  

  The state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) had approached the court for “an order of injunction restraining the KWSIEC from conducting any election on the 26th day of October 2013 into the 16 Kwara State local government councils when a matter challenging the validity, legality and the constitutionality of the proposed election is sub judice and pending before the court for determination.   

  “And an order restraining the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party, Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM) and Independent Democrats – 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th defendants – from holding out themselves or preventing themselves or participating in the October 26 proposed local government council election when the validity of their participation is a sub judice.”  

  In a ruling lasting about one hour, Justice Suleiman Kawu said: “The applicants have failed to satisfy me in stopping the conduct of the election. 

  “For this reason, the case is hereby dismissed.”     

  Kawu added: “It is almost impossible to grant the order of injunction without necessarily delving into the substantive case. I have no doubt in my mind that the applicants are guilty of delay as the case suffered several adjournments at their instance.”  

  He observed that notice for the proposed election was given to the applicants in May this year, adding the applicants did not file their case until August this year.  

  But a chieftain of the APC, Comrade Sola Iji said today’s council election would be a contest between the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).  

  Iji, who was the chair of the caretaker committee of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), said: “We have listened to the decision of the court in the application. What we expect is that opportunity should be given all the political parties to participate in election and that was why we came with this application; that was why we came to court in the first instance.    

  “Unfortunately, this will remain a contest between PDP and PDP; it is not a contest to test the popularity of political parties in the state, but an election that is going to be conducted purely for the PDP. 

  “We didn’t say we did not to participate, we wanted to participate. The ruling notice was given about five months ago, but the notice was given to CPC, ANPP and ACN, by July 31 was when APC came alive.   

  Meanwhile, the state chapter of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has debunked the claims in some national newspapers (not The Guardian) that it will not field any candidate for tomorrow’s council polls.      

  According to the Chairman of the party in the state, Isola Balogun Fulani yesterday at a press briefing in Ilorin, the PDP did not only have candidates for all the 181 councillorship wards in the state, but have candidates for all the 15 chairmanship seats.    

  He said, “we are ready for the polls and we shall not allow any distraction to derail our preparations. Let all other contesting parties get set for the polls and stop this media lies about us.”