A case challenging the candidacy of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has been dismissed by the Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja. It was the fourth case to be dismissed by the courts in recent weeks.
In the latest case, Justice Fadima Aminu Muritala described the plaintiff, Ngozika Ihuoma as a meddlesome interloper, having no ‘locus standi’ to institute the suit. He, therefore, dismissed the case for being speculative after APCs counsel, Julius Ishola Esq., had urged the court to dismiss it along with a heavy cost for wasting judicial time.
Ngozika Ihuoma, an APC member, had in a suit filed on June 9 dragged Tinubu and five others to court on 9 June, 2022, after the former Lagos State governor won the APC presidential primary election. He sought for six reliefs, which included INEC barring the Asiwaju from contesting the 2023 presidential election.
In defense of the suit, the lawyers on behalf of APC filed a counter-affidavit in opposition to the Originating Summons and a Notice of Preliminary Objection.
The counter-affidavit challenged Ihuomas locus standi and grounds for the action. It sought a court declaration that the case was speculative, pre-emptive and non-justiciable, being the internal affairs of a political party. It also punctured Ihuomas case as academic, theoretical and an abuse of court process.
The court, on Monday, upheld the defense counsels objections and struck out the case.
In the last couple of weeks, the courts have dismissed several cases brought against Asiwaju Tinubu by opposition elements, including Action Alliance, AA, for being frivolous, lacking in merit and abuse of court processes.
