Abuja-based lawyer, Mr. Osigwe Momoh, has lost his bid to disqualify the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Bola Tinubu over the nomination of Muslim-Muslim candidacy for the 2023 presidential election.
The Federal High Court in Abuja threw out the suit on Wednesday.
Delivering judgment, Justice Ahmed Mohammed, Momoh lacked the locus standi to file the suit.
Justice Mohammed held that the lawyer, not being a member of APC and having not participated in the process that produced Tinubu and his running mate, Kashim Shetima could not query their nominations.
The judge said “having perused the originating summons of the suit, I am unable to see where the plaintiff was an aspirant in the election.
“Having found that the plaintiff lacks the locus standi, the court has no jurisdiction to proceed with the matter and the proceedings will terminate at this point.
“This matter is hereby struck out for want of jurisdiction.”
Momoh had in the suit prayed to the court for an order disqualifying the APC and nullifying the candidature of Tinubu from participating in the presidential election.
He said this was on the grounds that the nomination of a Muslim-Muslim candidacy was unconstitutional and against the spirit and letters of Sections 14, 15, and 224 of the 1999 Constitution.
Specifically, the lawyer who claimed to be an apostle of the rule of law and social justice argued that a Muslim-Muslim candidacy ran counter to the spirit of national cohesion, integration, and unity.
He asked the court for an order of perpetual injunction stopping the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from publishing the name of APC and its presidential candidate for the purpose of the 2023 election.
A federal high court in Abuja had on January 13 also dismissed a suit by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) seeking the disqualification of Tinubu and his running mate, Kassim Shettima.
In the originating summons marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1734/2022, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), APC, Tinubu, and Shettima were listed as the first to fourth defendants, respectively.
In the suit filed on July 28, 2022, the PDP said Shettima’s nomination as Tinubu’s running mate was in breach of the provisions of sections 29(1), 33, 35, and 84(1)(2) of the Electoral Act, 2022.
The party argued that Shettima’s nomination to contest the position of vice-president and Borno central senatorial seat contravened the law.
The PDP, which sought an order disqualifying the APC, Tinubu, and Shettima from contesting the presidential election, also sought an order nullifying their candidacy.
The PDP also sought an order compelling INEC to remove the names of the APC candidates from the list of candidates eligible to contest.
Delivering judgment, Inyang Ekwo, the presiding judge, dismissed the suit on the grounds that the PDP lacked the locus standi to institute the suit.
Ekwo also held that the case was an abuse of the court process.
credit: PM News
