Court rules on suit seeking to disqualify Tinubu as presidential candidate

The Federal High Court sitting in the Federal Capital Territory on Tuesday dismissed a certificate forgery suit filed against the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu.

The suit was filed before the court by Action Alliance (AA).

The presiding Judge, Justice Obiora Egwuatu in a his ruling, noted that the suit filed by AA was statute-barred, having not been commenced within the mandatory 14 days provided for under the 1999 Constitution (as amended by the Fourth Alteration Act).

Justice Egwuatu said that the suit had become academic and grossly incompetent, hence, the court lacked the requisite jurisdiction to entertain it or grant the reliefs sought by the plaintiff.

According to Justice Egwuatu, AA lacked locus standi to file the suit against the former Governor of Lagos State, adding that the party acted like a busybody, having interfered in the internal affairs of another party.

He consequently dismissed the suit for constituting an abuse of the court process.

The AA, in a suit, marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/954/2022, had sued the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, APC and Tinubu as 1st to 3rd defendants respectively. In a write of summons dated and filed on June 21 by its lawyer, U.O. Ukairo, AA sought a court declaration that the claim of the 3rd defendant (Tinubu) that he attended Government College, Ibadan and the University of Chicago on his INEC FORM CF 001 in 1999 which he presented to the 1st defendant, INEC, was false.

It also sought a declaration that the false information on the APC presidential candidate’s “INEC FORM CF 001 wherein he claims to have been awarded a Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics by the University of Chicago is a forged certificate.”

It further sought a declaration that in view of Section 137(1)(j) of the 1999 Constitution, Tinubu, having in 1999 presented a forged certificate to INEC in INEC FORM CF 001 which he submitted as a candidate in the 1999 general elections for the post of the Governor of Lagos State was not qualified to contest for the office of president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

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The party, which urged the court to declare that the submission of Tinubu’s name to the electoral umpire by the APC (2nd defendant) as its 2023 presidential candidate is null and void and of no effect, prayed for an order of perpetual injunction restraining INEC from publishing his name as a candidate in the general elections.

AA also sought an order of perpetual injunction restraining INEC from listing APC as a political party in the ballot for the conduct of the 2023 presidential election to be conducted by INEC.