2023: Court dismisses suit challenging Tinubu’s candidacy

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has dismissed the case challenging the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu ahead of the 2023 polls.

A statement by the Director, Media & Publicity, APC Presidential Campaign Council, Bayo Onanuga confirmed the dismissal.

It noted that in the last couple of weeks, the courts had dismissed several cases brought against Tinubu by opposition elements, including Action Alliance, for being frivolous, lacking in merit and abuse of court processes.

In the case with suit No: FHC/ABJ/CS/854/2022, Justice Fadima Aminu Muritala described the plaintiff, Elder Ngozika Ihuoma as a “meddlesome interloper having no locus standi to institute the suit”.

The latest is the fourth case to be dismissed by the courts in recent weeks.

Justice Muritala dismissed the case for being speculative after APC’s counsel, Julius Ishola Esq from Babatunde Ogala & Co urged the Court to dismiss it with heavy costs for wasting judicial time.

Ihuoma dragged Tinubu and five others to court on 9 June, 2022 after the former Lagos Governor won the APC presidential primary election.

He sought six reliefs, which included INEC barring Tinubu from contesting the 2023 presidential election.

In defense of the suit, the law office of Babatunde Ogala (SAN) & Co on behalf of All Progressives Congress filed a counter affidavit in opposition to the Originating Summons and a Notice of Preliminary Objection.

The counter affidavit challenged Ihuoma’s locus standi and grounds for the action.

It sought a court declaration that the case was speculative, pre-emptive and non-justiciable being the internal affairs of a political party.

The counter affidavit also punctured Ihuoma’s case as academic, theoretical and an abuse of court process.

The court on Monday upheld the defense counsel’s objections and struck out the case.

(Nation)