The Court of Appeal in Abuja dismissed an appeal filed by former Minister of State for Education Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, who sought to disqualify Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as their parties’ presidential candidates. Nwajiuba, together with the non‑governmental organisation Rights for All International, had previously asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to cancel the processes that produced Tinubu and Abubakar as candidates. The suit, filed as FHC/ABJ/CS/942/2022, named the APC, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Attorney General of the Federation and the Independent National Electoral Commission as defendants.
The plaintiffs prayed for several declarations: that the special national convention of the PDP held on 28‑29 May 2022 was improperly constituted under Section 33(1) and (5)(c) of the PDP Constitution, that the convention lacked authority to elect Tinubu as the party’s 2023 presidential candidate, and that the votes cast at the PDP and APC conventions in June and May 2022 were illegal, null and void due to corruption, vote‑buying and voter inducement. They also sought an order declaring Nwajiuba the duly elected PDP presidential candidate, arguing that he was the only contestant whose N100 million funding was verified in compliance with the Electoral Act.
Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court dismissed the suit, holding that the plaintiffs lacked legal standing. Nwajiuba appealed. Counsel for the APC, Babatunde Ogala, raised a preliminary objection, contending that the suit was not a pre‑election matter and that the appellant, as an NGO, could not invoke Section 285(14)(a), (b) or (c) of the 1999 Constitution.
The appellate court delivered its judgment, again dismissing the appeal and awarding N100,000 in favor of Tinubu and Atiku. The court affirmed that the appeal lacked merit, describing the appellant as a “busybody” and “meddlesome interloper” without locus standi under Section 285(14). It concluded that the appellant was attempting to revive the dissolved NGO “through the back door.” The judgment of the lower court dated 15 December 2022 was therefore upheld.
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