A Federal High Court sitting in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, has dismissed three cases filed against the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its governorship candidate, Prince Dapo Abiodun, challenging his victory at the party’s primaries conducted on May 26, 2022, in the state.
The presiding judge, Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, dismissed the cases for various reasons ranging from lack of standing to sue to lack of jurisdiction, incompetence, frivolity, academic exercise, and being statue barred.
The judge also awarded a “joint cost” of N2 million against the litigants and in favour of the APC and its candidate in each of the three cases.
In the suit instituted by Mrs Sherifat Eweje against APC and Dapo Abiodun, the judge held that a person who did not participate in a primary election for an office cannot invoke the limited jurisdiction of the court to challenge the outcome of the primary election.
Justice Abdulmalik said Eweje bought a form for a legislative seat and did not buy a form for the governorship election, adding that she withdrew her candidacy on May 10, 2022, long before she filed the suit and before May 26, when the governorship primaries was held in Ogun State.
The judge said the plaintiff has no locus standi to bring the action, adding that the plaintiff’s suit was statute barred because it was filed more than 14 days after the cause of action arose.
Justice Abdulmalik declared the suit incompetent and struck it out, describing all other issues raised in the case as academic issues, since the court has no jurisdiction.
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In the second case filed by Semiu Olanrewaju Alao, the judge held that the plaintiffs were not aspirants, saying by their own averments, they were not sold the delegate forms and as such, did not participate in any election whether primary or delegates elections.
Abdulmalik further declared that the Plaintiffs who were not aspirants had no locus standi to file the case.
On the singular plaintiff who claimed to be a delegate, the judge said all the plaintiffs acknowledged that the 4th defendant is the chairman of 5th defendant and yet the document that plaintiffs showed highlighting the alleged delegate’s name as a delegate was not authenticated by the said 4th defendant as sent to the National Chairman.
Justice Abdulmalik held that the plaintiffs’ counsel failed to establish that the 2nd plaintiff was a delegate and thus failed to establish the locus standi of the plaintiffs to file the case, declaring the case as incompetent.
In the third case, the judge said the complaint filed by the plaintiffs was misdirected stating that under the party constitution, it must start from the ward level and climb its way up.
Abdulmalik held that the plaintiffs did not exhaust the internal remedy of the party and the case filed was “not justiciable”.
The presiding judge added that the parties had an obligation to exhaust internal remedies but failed to do so.
“Instead of submitting complaints to their wards and working those complaints up the ladder of the party’s dispute resolution structure, they rushed to court and filed cases that pertain to matters that are not justiciable, being internal affairs of APC,” the judge said.
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