A Federal High Court sitting in Abeokuta, Ogun State, has dismissed three cases filed against Governor Dapo Abiodun of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The cases were challenging the victory of Abiodun at the APC primary election conducted on May 26, 2022.
Justice Joyce O. Abdulmalik had dismissed the suits for lack of jurisdiction, incompetence, frivolity, academic exercise and for being statute barred.
The Judge also awarded a “joint cost” of N2 million against the litigants and in favour of APC and its candidate in each of the three cases.
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In the suit instituted by Mrs Sherifat Eweje over the certificates of Abiodun, the court held that a person who did not participate in a primary election cannot invoke the limited jurisdiction of the court to challenge the outcome of that primary.
The Judge held that Eweje bought a form for a legislative seat and not a form for the governorship primary, adding that she even withdrew from the race on May 10, long before she filed the suit or when the primary was held.
As a result, the court ruled that Eweje had no locus standi to bring the action. The court also held that Plaintiff’s suit is statute barred because it was filed more than 14 days after the cause of action arose.
The court consequently struck out the suit, declaring it incompetent and describing all other issues raised in the case as academic issues, on which the court has no jurisdiction.
In the second case filed by Semiu Olanrewaju Alao, the court said the plaintiffs, by their averments, were not aspirants because they were not even sold delegate forms and as such, neither did they participate in any election whether primary or delegates elections.
The Judge declared that the Plaintiffs, for not being aspirants, had no locus standi to file the case.
In the same vein, the court dismissed a case filed by Nuberu Olufemi Adesanya and two others, saying it is against the APC Constitution to file an action against the party or its officials without first exhausting internal remedies.
The court found that the complaint filed by the Plaintiffs was misdirected as under the APC Constitution, such must start from the ward level.
The Court held that the Plaintiff did not exhaust the internal remedy of the party and the case filed was “not justiciable.”
The court reminded the litigants that the APC is a voluntary organisation and that the will of the majority will prevail.
