Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Nigeria’s President-elect
The All Progressives Congress (APC) can breathe a sigh of relief as the Supreme Court of Nigeria has quashed the lawsuit seeking to disqualify Bola Tinubu and Kashim Shettima from their presidential and vice-presidential candidacies.
On Friday, the supreme court justices ruled that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lacked the necessary standing to initiate the aforementioned litigation.
The panel’s statement clearly states that the All Progressives Congress (APC) has no affiliation with the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the nomination of Shettima as Tinubu’s running mate of violating sections 29(1), 33, 35, and 84(1)(2) of the Electoral Act.
The party claims that Shettima, despite accepting the nomination for the position of vice-presidential candidate, still remained the APC’s candidate for the Borno central senatorial district on July 14.
Sources have reported that Shettima’s senatorial nomination was withdrawn on July 6th, 2022, according to respondents.
The respondents assert that the lawsuit is statute barred as it was filed one day later than the legally mandated 14-day period after the cause of action, as per their statement.
Section 285(14)(c) of the constitution remains unchanged. A political party, no matter how pained or disgruntled, cannot challenge the nomination of candidates by another political party in court. They must remain an onlooker and keep mum, as they lack the locus standi to do so.
According to the constitution’s Section 285(14)(c), only a political party has the authority to challenge the decisions and activities of INEC that result in the disqualification of its candidate from contesting in an election.
The apex court declared that the appeal was frivolous and bound to fail.