Court dismisses PDP’s suit seeking disqualification of Tinubu and Peter Obi

Peoples Democratic Party’s lawsuit seeking the disqualification of Bola Tinubu, presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party, has been dismissed by a federal high court sitting in Abuja. 

The PDP had in its lawsuit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1016/2022, challenged the legality of the substitution of running mates for the APC and the Labour Party.

The opposition party which claimed that the Electoral Act 2022 did not make provision for a “place holder” or temporary running mate, asked the court to declare that Tinubu and Obi be disqualified unless they contest alongside their previous running mates; Kabiru Masari and Doyin Okupe respectively. 

In the lawsuit which has INEC, APC, Tinubu, Masari, Labour Party, Obi and Okupe as defendants, the PDP also asked the court to determine if “by the combined interpretation of Section 142(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Sections 29(1), 31, 33 of the Electoral Act 2022, the first defendant (INEC) can validly accept any change or substitution of the 4th (Masari) and 7th (Okupe) defendants as running mates of the 3rd (APC) and 6th (Labour Party) defendants”.

Ruling on the case after respondents in the suit challenged the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the matter, Justice Donatus Okorowo stated that the lawsuit is not within the court’s jurisdiction. 

He went on to dismiss the case he said lacks merit and an abuse of court process.