A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has dismissed a suit challenging the candidacy of the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
A rights advocate and APC stalwart, Ngozika Ihuoma, had dragged Tinubu and the Peoples Democratic Party’s candidate, Atiku Abubakar, to court on June 9 for allegedly violating extant electoral laws, a few days after the former Lagos State Governor won the APC presidential primary.
In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/854/2022, the two presidential candidates were sued alongside their parties, the Independent National Electoral Commission, and the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation.
Ihuoma sought six reliefs, which included INEC barring Tinubu from contesting the 2023 presidential election.
In defence of the suit, the law office of Babatunde Ogala (SAN) & Co. on behalf of the APC, filed a counter-affidavit in opposition to the originating summons and a notice of preliminary objection.
The case was, however, dismissed by the Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday.
Our correspondent obtained a copy of the court judgment on Wednesday.
Justice Fatima Muritala described Ihuoma as a “meddlesome interloper having no locus standi to institute the suit.”
He, therefore, dismissed the case for being speculative after APC’s counsel, Julius Ishola, from Babatunde Ogala, had urged the court to dismiss it with heavy penalties for wasting judicial time.
The Director of Media and Publicity for the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Bayo Onanuga, confirmed the ruling in a statement on Wednesday.
Onanuga disclosed that the counter affidavit challenged Ihuoma’s locus standi and grounds for the action.
He said, “The counter affidavit also punctured Ihuoma’s case as academic, theoretical, and an abuse of court process. The court upheld the defence counsel’s objections on Monday and struck out the case.
“In the last couple of weeks, the courts have dismissed several cases brought against Asiwaju Tinubu by opposition elements, including Action Alliance, for being frivolous, lacking in merit, and abusing court processes.”
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