By Business A.M.
The Supreme Court has dismissed the suit filed by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) seeking to disqualify the President-elect, Bola Tinubu and Kashim Shettima, the vice-president-elect, in the February 25 2023 presidential election over alleged double nomination.
The suit alleged that the nomination of Shettima as Tinubu’s running mate was inappropriate, being that he had double nomination as senatorial candidate for Borno Central Senatorial District and vice-presidential candidate under the All Progressives Congress (APC), and prayed that the court stop the president-elect from being sworn in as president come May 29.
Delivering its judgment, the apex court held that the PDP’s suit praying for disqualification of Tinubu and Shettima of the All Progressive Congress (APC) lacked the locus standi to bring the action, since the party was not a member of the APC.
Justice Adamu Jauro, a member of the court’s five-man panel , who delivered the lead judgment also slammed a fine of N2 million on PDP in favour of the respondent for “poke nosing” into the internal affairs of the APC, in the conduct of its primary elections and nomination of its candidates.
“A political party lacks the right to challenge the activities of INEC on account of the nomination of another political party’s candidate.No court has the jurisdiction to entertain such a suit by another party,” the court held.
The Supreme Court further held that apart from the fact that PDP lacked requisite jurisdiction to institute the suit, the party also failed to provide scintilla of evidence that Shettima engaged in double nomination.
It described the claim of PDP on the alleged double nomination of the Vice President-elect as most unfortunate and a clear deliberate mischief to mislead the Court and the country.
The Supreme Court also agreed with Fagbemi that no matter the pains of PDP on how APC conducted its primary election and nominated its candidates, PDP must remain onlooker.
The Court held that the action of PDP was painful because it used social media to set a booby trap for the Supreme Court to blackmail it, which is most unfortunate, unwarranted and uncalled for.
