By Alex Enumah:
Justice Donatus Okorowo of the Federal High Court, Abuja on Monday dismissed the suit by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) seeking the disqualification of the candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and that of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi, in the 2023 presidential election over alleged unlawful substitution of their running mates.
Justice Okorowo dismissed the suit for being incompetent and lacking in merit on the grounds that the plaintiff lacked the necessary locus standi to institute the legal action.
In the suit with No. FHC/ABJ/CS/1016/2022, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), APC, Tinubu, Kabiru Masari, Labour Party, Obi and Doyin Okupe are the first to seventh defendants respectively.
The judge further held that the suit was vexatious and a waste of the precious time of the court, adding that it
was aimed at irritating opponents in the 2023 presidential election.
According to the plaintiff, the Electoral Act 2022 did not make provision for a “place holder” or temporary running mate and that time for resignation, withdrawal or substitution of presidential candidates or conduct of fresh primaries to replace them is not applicable to Masari and Okupe.
Hence, the court should disqualify Tinubu and Obi from participating in next year’s presidential poll.
However, the court in its judgment disagreed with the plaintiff, noting that the suit filed on its behalf by Mr Gordy Uche (SAN), was incompetent and unjusticiable because it did not disclose any reasonable cause of action.
Besides, the judge said that PDP failed woefully to disclose any injury it suffered in the substitution of running mates carried out by APC and LP.
The running mates, whose substitution were challenged by PDP, are Kabiru Masari and Doyin Okupe for APC and LP respectively.
PDP also contended that Tinubu, the APC presidential candidate and Obi, the LP presidential candidate, can only qualify to contest the 2023 presidential election with Masari and Okupe, as their respective running mates.
The plaintiff further claimed that INEC lacked the power to accept any withdrawal or substitution of Masari and Okupe without APC and LP conducting fresh primaries to substitute Tinubu and Obi.
PDP averred that Masari and Okupe are not products of any primary election and as such were not validly nominated by APC and LP.
PDP also stated that INEC cannot validly make any other election timetable for the change and substitution of Masari and Okupe as running mates to Tinubu and Obi and that the candidacy of Tinubu and Obi are tied to Masari and Okupe and cannot be severed, altered or changed any day later than June 17, 2022.
The judge however held that the issue of nomination and substitution are internal affairs of political parties and that courts have no jurisdiction to dabble into them.
