An appeal by Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, a former minister of state for education, to the Court of Appeal in Abuja was dismissed. Nwajiuba had sought to have Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party disqualified as presidential candidates on behalf of their respective political parties.
Nwajiuba and the non-governmental organisation Rights for Everyone International had petitioned the Federal High Court in Abuja to annul the procedures that resulted in Tinubu and Abubakar becoming the candidates for their respective political parties.
The defendants in the lawsuit with the filing number FHC/ABJ/CS/942/2022 were the APC and Bola Tinubu, who were contested by Babatunde Ogala on their behalf.
The Independent National Electoral Commission and the Attorney General of the Federation were also named as defendants in the lawsuit.
Appeal Court upholds Senator Victor Umeh’s election
Among others, the plaintiffs prayed for “a declaration that having regard to the clear, unambiguous and express provisions, spirit and tenor of Section 33(1) And (5) (C) of the Constitution of the Peoples Democratic Party 2017 as Amended, the Special National convention of the 2nd Defendant held on May 28 and 29, 2022 was not properly constituted as regards the composition of delegates who should attend and vote at the said convention and did not confer the convention the powers to elect the 4th Defendant as the Presidential candidate of the 2nd Defendant for the 2023 Presidential election.
“A declaration that all the votes cast in favour of the 3rd and 4th Defendants at the special convention of the 1st and 2nd Defendant held on June 6 and 7, 2022 and on May 28 and 29, 2022 respectively are illegal, null and void and of no effect whatsoever on the grounds of corruption, buying and selling of delegates votes and voter inducement.
“An order returning the 2nd Plaintiff as the duly elected and nominated presidential candidate of the 1st Defendant being that by operation of Section 90(3), the 2nd Plaintiff, Chukwuemeka Nwajuba is the only candidate out of the 10 contestants who polled votes at the 1st Defendants’ convention and whose source of the N100m is verified and complied with the electoral Act as contained in the print out of the names in the bank statement of over 1000 individual contributions in person.
2023 Presidency: Nwajiuba Reveals How He Raised N100m To Buy APC Forms
Handling the suit before him, Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal high court dismissed it, on the grounds that the plaintiffs lack the legal rights to file the suit.
Counsel to the APC, Ogala raised a preliminary objection, “that the suit at the lower court was not a pre-election matter as the appellant cannot be said to be a person covered by Section 285(14) a, b, c of the 1999 constitution being an NGO,” Ogala argued in the preliminary objection.
Delivering judgment, the appellate court again dismissed the suit and awarded N100,000 against the appellants in favour of Tinubu and Atiku.
Upholding the verdict of the lower court, the appeal court ruled that, “the appeal is lacking in merit and the appellant only sought to revive the dissolved NGO through the back door, the counsel to the Appellant who is also a trustee of the NGO should live with the same in sober reflections.”
“The appellant is not clothed with locus as can be gleaned from Section 285(14) a, b, and c of the 1999 constitution.
“The appellant is a busybody and a meddlesome interloper.
“The appellate court upheld the verdict of the trial court and awarded N100,000 against the appellants in the favor of Tinubu and Atiku.
“Judgment of the lower court delivered on December 15, 2022, is affirmed.”
Follow us on Facebook
Post Disclaimer
The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author and forum participants on this website do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of Anaedo Online or official policies of the Anaedo Online.