The Supreme Court has dismissed the claim filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) seeking the disqualification of Bola Tinubu as a candidate in the last presidential elections.
The lawsuit, alleging the improper nomination of Tinubu’s running mate for the February 2022 presidential election,3 Kashim Shettima, implicitly sought to prevent the president-elect from being sworn in as president on May 29.
A five-person panel headed by Inyang Okoro dismissed the lawsuit unanimously on Friday.
Adamu Jauro, a member of the panel that handed down the main ruling, argued that the PDP lacked the legal right to sue on an internal APC matter.
“It should be noted that no political party can challenge the nomination of another political party.
“A political party lacks the right to challenge the activities of the INEC for the nomination of the candidate of another political party.
“No court has jurisdiction to consider such a claim from another party,” the court held.
The court said the PDP failed to prove any harm it suffered due to Shettima’s alleged double nomination.
Agreeing with the Court of Appeal’s earlier judgment dismissing the lawsuit, Mr. Jauro said: “I fully agree with the Court of Appeal that the PDP has no right to bring this lawsuit.
“Appellant was unable to point to where the lower court determined the merits on its merits.
“It is clear that the lawsuit is prescribed. Therefore, this court has no power to delve into the merits of the claim.”
The judge added: “It is frivolous and bound to fail laden with manifest disease. It has been a waste of precious time and judicial energy.
“Lawyers should do better to advise their clients to desist from suing frivolous matters.
“The appeal is seriously without merit and is hereby dismissed.”
The court awarded the cost of N2 million against PDP and in favor of the defendants
The trial came three days before Tinubu’s inauguration as Nigeria’s president.
Outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari had on Thursday bestowed Nigeria’s highest national honour, GCFR, on Mr. Tinubu in preparation for the president-elect’s inauguration on May 29. The second highest national honour, GCON, was also awarded to Vice President-elect Kashim Shettima.
Background
The PDP’s lawsuit predates the February 2023 presidential election. The case differs from the election petition case the party filed with the presidential electoral court after the February election to challenge Tinubu’s victory.
The party filed the lawsuit challenging Tinubu/Shettima’s candidacy claim in the Abuja Federal High Court on July 28, 2022.
Mr. Shettima was already the All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial candidate for the Borno Central Senatorial District at the time of his nomination as the party’s vice-presidential candidate last year.
The PDP said it had not yet withdrawn its senatorial candidacy at the time its party nominated it as its vice-presidential candidate.
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The opposition party argued that such double nominations of one person for elections to different electoral districts in one electoral cycle violated the provisions of sections 29(1), 33, 35 and 84{1)(2)} of the Electoral Law of 2022.
The breach, according to the plaintiff, invalidated APC’s presidential candidacy. Therefore, the PDP sought an order disqualifying APC and its candidates, Messrs. Tinubu and Shettima, from running in the 2023 presidential election.
But handing down the sentence on January 13, Judge Inyang Ekwo dismissed the case on the grounds that the PDP lacked the legal right to investigate what he described as an internal APC matter.
Mr. Ekwo added that the claim was affected by the estoppel principle and said that the issue of Mr. Shettima’s nomination as Mr. Tinubu’s running mate was previously decided by another court of competent jurisdiction.
The judge held that the lawsuit was an abuse of judicial process and, as such, deserved to be dismissed.
Displeased with the sentence, the PDP appealed against it to the Abuja Court of Appeal.
But the appeals court dismissed the appeal in its verdict on March 25, exactly one month after the presidential election won by Tinubu and his party was declared the winner.
A three-member panel of judges from the Court of Appeal upheld the decision of the Federal High Court.
In the main judgment handed down by James Abunduga, the appeals court described the PDP as a meddling trespasser for intruding on APC affairs.
The PDP also appealed to the Supreme Court.
A five-person panel of the court headed by Inyang Okoro heard the appeal on Monday and set it up for trial today (Friday).
At the hearing, the PDP, through its lawyer, Joe Agi, Nigeria’s Chief Advocate, urged the Supreme Court to quash the Court of Appeal’s ruling on the matter and grant his client’s sentence for cancellation of
Tinubu and APC’s lawyer, Babatunde Ogala, SAN, requested the dismissal of the claim on the grounds that it lacked merit.
In addition, the defendants maintained that the matter had prescribed in view of the expiration of the period allowed for the hearing and determination of said pre-election case.
For its part, INEC, through its lawyer, Adebiyi Adetosoye, said it supported Mr. Tinubu’s and APC’s demand that the appeal be dismissed at substantial cost.
