Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja turned down a lawsuit filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to stop Bola Tinubu and his vice, Mr. Kassim Shettima, from running in the general elections of 2023. The lawsuit was filed by Bola Tinubu and Mr. Kassim Shettima.
Justice Ekwo dismissed the lawsuit in his ruling on the grounds that the PDP lacked locus standi to bring it.
Justice Ekwo said that the lawsuit was a bad use of the legal system and was caught by the issue estoppel rule.
Tinubu’s eligibility to run for president in 2023 as an APC candidate was contested by the PDP in its initial summons on the grounds that Mr. Shettima’s nomination as his running mate violated the provisions of Sections 29(1), 33, 35, and 84(1)(2) of the Electoral Act of 2022 (as amended).
It claimed that Shettima’s candidature to run for both the vice presidential seat and the Borno Central senatorial seat was illegal.
In addition to asking for an order to prevent the APC, Tinubu, and Shettima from running in the presidential election slated for February 25, the PDP also asked for an order to void their candidatures.
It also asked the court to tell INEC to take their names off the list of candidates who had been nominated or backed and were allowed to run for office.
The defendants, however, sought to dismiss the case for lack of jurisdiction in their preliminary objection.
They said that the PDP didn’t have the legal right to file the lawsuit, which was always meant to challenge the way the political party chose and nominated candidates.
Additionally, they stated that such conduct was an APC internal matter and was not subject to legal recourse.
Justice Ekwo and the defendants all agreed that the PDP didn’t have the right to bring the case.
Where there is no location, he contends, the court lacks jurisdiction.
He claimed that the court determined that the action lacked locus standi and was therefore incompetent.
Ekwo said that the PDP lacked the right to take action since it touched on the APC’s internal issues.
The judge said that the ideas of locus standi and cause of action were related to the claim that the respondents’ reason for suing was not made clear.
Accordingly, he claimed that the PDP lacked locus standi and a cause of action against the defendants.
Justice Ekwo and the defendants all agreed that the lawsuit was a bad use of the legal system.
Justice Ekwo subsequently dismissed the lawsuit because it was an abuse of the legal system.
