Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has dismissed a suit seeking to disqualify the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu from next year’s general election.
Gatekeepers News reports that the Presiding Judge, Justice A.R Mohammed in a judgment delivered on December 23 at about 5:25pm, struck out the suit for being a misjoinder of causes of action.
The judge further held that the Plaintiffs lacked the locus standi to institute the suit having not participated in the presidential primaries complained of.
The suit filled by Menuma Suleiman as Suit No: FHC/ABJ/CS/ 1094/ 2022, is the eighth suit seeking to exclude Tinubu and the APC from the presidential race. The plaintiffs listed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the APC, Tinubu, the National Assembly and the Attorney-General of the Federation/Minster of Justice as the 1st to 4th defendants.
In defence of the suit, the law office of Babatunde Ogala (SAN) & Co on behalf of APC filed a Counter-Affidavit in opposition to the Originating Summons and a Notice of Preliminary Objection on five grounds.
The originating process is incompetent, the Plaintiffs lacked locus standi, the suit discloses no cause of action, the suit is statute barred, and is an abuse of court process.
When the matter came up for hearing on December 23, 2022, the APC’s counsel Julius O. Ishola of Babatunde Ogala & Co, adopted the Notice of Preliminary filed and prayed the Court to dismiss/strike out the suit for want of jurisdiction.
But the plaintiffs’ counsel opposed him and filed a written address and adopted same in praying the Court to dismiss the objections and proceed to determine the suit on its merit.
Justice Mohammed agreed with learned counsels to both the 2nd and 3rd Defendants and struck out the suit for being a misjoinder of causes of action.
The judge further held that the Plaintiffs lacked the locus standi to institute the suit having not participated in the presidential primaries complained of.
This judgment brings the number of cases that have so far been dismissed against Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s APC presidential candidature to eight.
