A case challenging the candidacy of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, as the 2023 Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has been dismissed by a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja.
Mr Bayo Onanuga, Director, Media and Publicity, APC Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), said this in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja, adding that it was the fourth case to be dismissed by the courts in recent weeks.
“In the latest case, suit No: FHC/ABJ/CS/854/2022, Justice Fadima Aminu Murtala, described the plaintiff, Elder Ngozika Ihuoma, as a “meddlesome interloper, having no locus standi to institute the suit.
“She therefore, dismissed the case for being speculative, after APC’s counsel, Julius Ishola, from Babatunde Ogala & Co, had urged the court to dismiss it with heavy cost for wasting judicial time.
“Ihuoma dragged Tinubu and five others to court on June 9, 2022, after the former Lagos State Governor won the APC presidential primary election.
“He sought for six reliefs, which included INEC barring Tinubu from contesting the 2023 presidential election,” Onanuga said in the statement.
He added that in defence of the suit, the law office of Babatunde Ogala & Co, on behalf of APC, filed a counter affidavit in opposition to the Originating Summons, and a Notice of Preliminary Objection.
Onanuga said 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-justifiable, 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 defence counsel’s objections and struck out the case, Onanuga said.
He added 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. (NAN)
