The supreme court of Nigeria has dismissed the suit seeking the disqualification of Bola Tinubu and Kashim Shettima as presidential and vice-presidential candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
A five-member panel of the supreme court led by Justice Adamu Jauro held on Friday that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lacked the locus standi to institute the suit. The panel said the PDP is not a member of the APC.
The PDP had claimed that the nomination of Shettima as Tinubu’s running mate was in breach of the provisions of sections 29(1), 33, 35, and 84(1)(2) of the Electoral Act, 2022.
The opposition party argued that nominating Shettima to contest the position of vice-president and Borno central senatorial seat at the same time was in breach of the law.
While reading the judgement, Justice Jauro noted that the PDP acted as a meddlesome Interloper and a busybody as it is an internal affair of the ruling APC.
He further awarded a sum of two million Naira (N2,000,000) against the PDP, even as the suit was dismissed for lack of merit.
According to the Justices, the attitude of the appellant (PDP), amounts to misleading the court, describing the move as “sad”.
Shettima pulled out of his senate nomination on July 6, 2022, and was subsequently replaced. At this point, he was no longer a candidate for the Senate, and as such his position as vice president, did not constitute a multiple nomination breach.
In the case of Uche Nwosu which the PDP cited, the Supreme Court Justices reminded them that they made the decision as at that time and are fully aware of the details.
Uche Nwosu in his case, was nominated by two political parties for different positions. They held that the suit of the PDP was bound to fail right from the trial court, to the Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court.
The Justices further held that the action of the PDP was painful as it used social media to set a trap for the Apex court to blackmail it, describing this situation as unfortunate and uncalled for.
According to the judges, a political party has no right to challenge the action of another party, or the decision of INEC, in respect of another party.
The justices held that no matter the pains of the PDP on how the APC conducted its primary elections and nominated its candidate, the PDP must remain as an onlooker.
They also reminded the PDP of Atiku Abubakar’s nomination in 1999 for the seat of Governor, but later moved on to become the Vice Presidential Candidate to Olusegun Obasanjo.
In that case, Atiku’s running mate – Boni Haruna took over the Governorship Nomination. INEC sought to conduct a fresh election then, but the party kicked against it until it reached the Supreme Court. The court asked the opposition party rhetorically what has changed since 1999.
