By Tunde Joshua
Two months after the conclusion of presidential primaries by political parties in the country, candidates have started facing pre-2023 election litigations.
Candidates of both the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar are faced with imminent disqualification as they were dragged to court by the immediate past Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba.
In conjunction with a group, Incorporated Trustees of Rights for All International, Nwajuiba, also a presidential aspirant on the platform of APC approached a Federal High Court in Abuja with an originating summons seeking an order declaring him as the authentic Presidential candidate of the APC by cancelling votes garnered by the Presidential candidates of the APC, Bola Tinubu.
The plaintiffs also prayed for the disqualification of the Peoples Democratic Party candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
Joined as defendants in the case with suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/942/22 are: the APC, the PDP, Tinubu, Atiku, the Attorney-General of the Federation and the Independent National Electoral Commission.
While accusing Tinubu of bribing delegates with dollars, he also attached as evidence a video recording showing the immediate past Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, lamenting that delegates to the APC primary sold their votes.
Amaechi had last week at the 60th birthday celebration of Apostle Eugene Ogu, General Overseer of Abundant Life Evangel Mission, said “those who voted at the APC primaries, who are they? They are ordinary Nigerians. The small money they got solved their immediate problem, now they are saying they made a mistake; you are now hearing different things,”
In a supporting affidavit deposed to by one Abadom Chidinma, on behalf of the ex-minister and the RAI, it was stated that the evidence presented to the court was genuine including Amaechi’s claim and that of Chief Dele Momodu of the PDP that votes were sold at the primaries.
Nwajiuba and his co-plaintiffs presented 25 issues for determination by the court prominent among which is whether the composition of the delegates contravened Article 11(A) 12(1) and 13(1) of the constitution of the APC.
He also demanded that the court should determine if the composition of the delegates at the PDP primary contravened Section 33(1) and (5) (c) of the constitution of the party.
The plaintiffs prayed the court to determine whether having regard to the clear unambiguous and express provisions and tenor of Sections 6(6) (A) (B) and (C) read alongside Section 15(5) of the 1999 Constitution, the court has the inherent judicial powers to nullify, cancel and declare as illegal the Presidential primaries of the APC and the PDP.
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Nwajiuba specifically prayed the court to declare that all the votes cast in favour of Tinubu and Atiku at the special national convention of the APC and PDP are “illegal, null and void and of no effect whatsoever” on the grounds of corruption and selling of delegate votes and voter inducement.
Lastly, the ex-minister prayed the court to decide if having regard to the express provisions of paragraphs 1 and 8 of the 5th schedule of the 1999 Constitution, the corrupt conduct of the “third defendant (Tinubu) and the 4th defendant (Atiku) in buying votes and corruptly inducing delegates with dollars and naira in various sums to secure their votes at the special national convention disqualifies them from further seeking, contesting and holding the office of the President.”
As part of the 26 reliefs sought, Nwajuiba categorically want an order of the court that the composition of delegates at the APC and the PDP was not properly constituted.
The plaintiffs are seeking a “declaration that the conduct of the 3rd (Tinubu) and 4th (Atiku) defendants who by way of corrupt inducements of delegates with US dollars which being a foreign currency and non-legal tender in Nigeria under the CBN Act… used the dollars for the inducement of votes in favour of the 3rd (Tinubu) and 4th (Atiku) defendants have rendered the votes they scored at the special convention of the 1st defendant (APC) and the 2nd defendant (PDP) illegal, void and invalid and of no effect whatsoever and thus inhibiting (Tinubu and Atiku) from benefiting from the proceeds of their gross illegalities.”
The plaintiffs also asked the court to declare that Tinubu could not be recognised as the Presidential candidate of the APC because the money he used in purchasing the APC form could not be traced to any business.
He asked the court to make a declaration that Tinubu lacked the minimum qualification to run for the office of the President which is a secondary school certificate, a document which he had failed to submit but tendered his university certificate instead.
Finally, they are seeking an order, “returning the 2nd plaintiff (Nwajiuba) as the duly elected/nominated Presidential candidate of the 1st defendant (APC) being that by the operation of Section 90(3), the 2nd plaintiff, Hon. Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba is the only contestant out of the 10 contestants whose source of N100m is verified and complied with in the Electoral Act as contained in the printout of the names of the bank statement.”
Responding, the Director General of Asiwaju Tinubu Presidential Campaign Organisation, Adebayo Shittu, was said to have challenged the plaintiffs to prove their allegation of vote-buying.
Shittu stressed, “Can Nwajiuba prove this allegation? As I once told you, these are frustrated people. Was he even at the unveiling of Kashim Shettima, his party’s vice presidential candidate? No, he just like a few others, didn’t turn up. Did he even write to the APC leadership about this?
“Anyway, let him go to court and prove his case beyond a reasonable doubt. The truth is that we can’t stop anybody from going to court if he has a genuine case and can tender the evidence. I mean, what he is alleging in this case, is criminality and he has to prove it. That is my position.”
When contacted for comment, the APC Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka asked one of our correspondents to call back the following day.
He simply said, “It is not a good time I can’t talk, let’s talk tomorrow(Friday), please.”
National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Hon. Debo Ologunagba did not respond to enquiries on the matter.
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