On Thursday, August 18, 2022, Justice Obiora Egwuatu of a Federal High Court in Abuja dismissed a lawsuit that sought to overturn the PDP’s nomination of Ademola Jackson Nurudeen Adeleke for governor in the most recent election on July 16, 2022.
On the grounds that the plaintiff lacked locus standi to bring the complaint, the judge dismissed the lawsuit.
Awoyemi Oluwatayo Lukman, the lawsuit’s plaintiff, had brought Adeleke, the PDP, and the Independent National Electoral Commission before the court in an effort to have the submission of Adeleke’s name to INEC declared illegal and set aside.
The complainant took issue with the PDP’s hasty submission of Adeleke’s name on March 11 rather than between March 14 and 18 as required by INEC norms.
The plaintiff urged the court to declare Adeleke’s name to have been submitted after the deadline established by INEC and to declare it illegal, unlawful, null, and void and to be set aside.
He asserted that INEC must abide by its official rules and that any actions taken in violation of the guidelines are prohibited by the Electoral Act of 2022.
However, Justice Obiora Egwuatu dismissed the lawsuit in his ruling on the grounds that the aforementioned Awoyemi Oluwatayo Lukman lacked locus standi to bring the action.
The court ruled that the lawsuit was also time-barred since it was filed after the 14-day deadline set forth in section 285 of the 1999 Constitution for pre-election lawsuits. The instant lawsuit was filed after 28 days.
