Kwara: Court docket dismisses PDP go well with looking for Gov. Abdulrazaq, APC’s disqualification

A Federal Excessive Court docket, Abuja, on Thursday, dismissed a Peoples Democratic Occasion (PDP) go well with looking for the disqualification of Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq of Kwara and All Progressives Congress (APC) within the March 11 governorship election.

NAN experiences that Justice Inyang Ekwo, in a judgment, held that the go well with was an abuse of the court docket course of.

In keeping with Justice Ekwo, no iota of legislation helps this motion.

The PDP had, in a go well with marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1324/2022, sued the Impartial Nationwide Electoral Fee (INEC), Governor Abdulrazaq and APC as 1st to third respondents, respectively.

The PDP had requested the court docket to declare that Mr Abdulrazaq’s West African Examination Council (WAEC) College Certificates hooked up to his affidavit in help of his particulars which bear the identify “RAZAQ A. R.” didn’t belong to him, “whose identify as proven in FORM EC 9 is ‘ABDULRAHMAN ABDULRAZAQ.’”

The celebration claimed that the WAEC certificates was solid and introduced by the APC to INEC to help Abdulrazaq’s instructional qualification as offered for in Part 177 (d) of the 1999 structure (as amended).

The PDP, due to this fact, sought an order disqualifying Abdulrazaq and APC from taking part within the Kwara governorship ballot, amongst others.

However the duo opposed the PDP’s software, urging the court docket to dismiss the go well with for constituting an abuse of the court docket course of.

They argued that the PDP lacked the locus standi to institute the motion as neither a contestant nor a member of the celebration, amongst others.

Delivering the judgment, Justice Ekwo agreed with the 2nd and third respondents (Abdulrazaq and APC) that the PDP had no locus standi (authorized proper) to file the matter.

In keeping with him,.the place there isn’t any locus, the court docket has no jurisdiction.
He mentioned the court docket discovered that the motion was incompetent for lack of locus standi.
Ekwo held that that matter bordered on the inner affairs of the APC wherein the PDP lacked locus to file the case.

On the argument about non-disclosure of the reason for motion towards the respondents, the choose mentioned that there was a nexus between locus standi and a reason behind motion.
He, due to this fact, mentioned that for the reason that PDP had no locus standi, it additionally didn’t have any reason behind motion towards the respondents.

Justice Ekwo additionally agreed with the respondents that the go well with was an abuse of the court docket course of.

“It’s specific within the provision of Part 29 (5) of the Electoral Act, 2022 that the suitable of motion on the matter for which the applicant/respondent (PDP) has filed this motion is given to ‘any aspirant who participated within the primaries of his political celebration’.

“This Court docket has additionally beforehand discovered on the primary leg of the objection of the 2nd respondent/applicant that the applicant/respondent (PDP) shouldn’t be an ‘aspirant’ of the third respondent.

“This court docket has additionally discovered that the availability of Part 285 (14) (c) of the 1999 Structure (as amended) additionally relied upon by the applicant/respondent (PDP) on this case doesn’t avail.

“The summation of that is that there isn’t any iota of legislation which help this motion. It’s on this floor that I discover that this case is an abuse of course of and I so maintain,” he mentioned.

In keeping with him, the place a court docket finds {that a} go well with filed by a celebration quantities to an abuse of the method of the court docket, it has the obligation to dismiss it to place a closing cease, no less than so far as that court docket is worried, to the abuse of its course of.

He, consequently, dismissed the go well with for constituting an abuse of court docket course of