A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Thursday, dismissed a suit by former Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba and the Incorporated Trustees of Rights for All International (RAI) against the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ahmed Bola Tinubu and that of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
Nwajiuba and RAI had prayed the court to, among others reliefs void the primaries that produced Tinubu and Atiku Abubakar as candidates of the APC and PDP for the forthcoming presidential election scheduled for February next year.
In the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/942/2022, with the APC, PDP, Tinubu, Atiku Abubakar, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as defendants, the plaintiffs also prayed the court to replace Tinubu with the ex-Minister, who said he participated in APC’s primary and scored zero votes.
The trial Judge, Justice Inyang Ekwo, in his judgment in the suit, declined jurisdiction on the grounds that the plaintiffs lacked the locus standi (the legal right) to file the suit.
Justice Ekwo, who also described the suit as incompetent and proceeded to dismiss it, condemned the involvement of RAI, which claimed to be a non-government organisation, in politically motivated cases.
The judge held that, by its involvement in politically motivated cases and by extension, partisan politics, RAI went outside the objectives for which it was registered under Part F of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
“It is only in this country that an association registered for charitable purposes will venture into partisan politics with such an audacious sense of impunity.
“At this time in the political journey of this country, politics and political activities must be left to those who are authorized by law to do so. This action by the first plaintiff (RAI) is an outrageous act and an aberration to all known principles of the law of associations. In short, it is the height of lawlessness and ought to be stopped forthwith.
“Associations registered under Part F of the CAMA 2020 must understand the limitations of their operations under the law. Where they fail to do so, the legal sanctions will apply,” the judge held in the judgement.
Justice Ekwo proceeded to dissolve RAI and ordered the CAC to take over the dissolved group and deal with it in accordance with the provisions of the law on the dissolution of bodies registered pursuant to Part F of the CAMA 2022.
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