Federal High Court On Monday, Declined To Disqualify The Candidate Of The Labour Party, LP, Mr Peter Obi, From Participating In The 2023 Presidential Election

The court, in a judgement that was delivered by Justice Donatus Okorowo, equally refused to invalidate the candidacy of the presidential flag-bearer of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu.

It held that a suit the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, lodged against the two presidential candidates, lacked merit and deserved to be dismissed.

The PDP had approached the court, accusing both Obi and Tinubu of acting in breach of the Electoral Act.

It told the court that contrary to provisions of the electoral law, both Obi and Tinubu, failed to nominate their running mates in due time, choosing rather to temporarily hand over their Vice Presidential tickets to placeholders.

PDP told the court that whereas the candidate of the Labour Party, Obi, chose Dr Doyin Okupe as the placeholder for his Vice Presidential post, the other hand, candidate of the APC, Tinubu, submitted the name of Alhaji Kabiru Masari as his own placeholder.

Plaintiff, in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1016/2022, contended that the Electoral Act, 2022, did not make provision for a “place holder” or temporary running mate.

It argued that the subsequent resignation, withdrawal or substitution of Okupe and Masari, by both the LP and the APC, were illegal and unconstitutional.

PDP maintained that Obi and Tinubu could only qualify to contest the 2023 presidential election with Okupe and Masari, as their respective running mate.

It further argued that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, was bereft of the power to accept any withdrawal or substitution of both Okupe and Masari, without the LP and the APC conducting fresh primaries to substitute Obi and Tinubu.

PDP told the court that both Okupe and Masari are not products of any primary election and as such was not validly nominated by the LP and the APC.

Meanwhile, in his judgement on Monday, Justice Okorowo held that the suit was not only incompetent but amounted to gross abuse of the judicial process.

The court held that it lacked the jurisdiction to entertain an incompetent suit and accordingly dismissed it.

“This suit qualifies as one which amounts to an abuse of court process”, Justice Okorowo held.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Posts

Politics

Osun LG Election Proceeds Despite AGF, Police Calls for Suspension

The Osun State local government elections commenced on schedule despite opposition from the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi, and the Nigeria Police Force, both of whom had urged the state government to suspend the exercise. Voting began as early as 8 a.m. in several local government areas, including Ede North, where Governor […]

Read More
Politics

ISAF 2025:Makinde restates commitment to educational advancement

Oyo State governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, has declared that his government will continue to support educational advancement both locally and internationally as education remains one of the major pillars of his administration. The governor maintained that his government has been doing a lot of things in the education sector towards improving primary, secondary and tertiary education […]

Read More
Politics

Birthday: Akinyele LG Council boss, Hon Akinwole Akinleye Felicitates Oyo state Assembly Speaker On his Birthday

The Executive Chairman of Akinyele Local Government, Hon Akinwole Akinleye has extended his warm congratulations to the Speaker of the Oyo State Assembly,Rt. Hon Adebo Ogundoyin, on his birthday. In a statement made available to the public through his Chief Media Aide, Ogundipe Miracle , Hon. Akinwole Akinleye extolled Rt. Hon Adebo Ogundoyin’s outstanding leadership, […]

Read More