The Federal High Court, Abuja Division, on Monday reserved judgement in a suit seeking to void the emergence of a former president of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, as the All Progressives Congress’s candidate for the Yobe North senatorial district of Yobe.
Justice Salim Ibrahim said the judgement date would be communicated to parties 24 hours before delivery.
The judge announced this after lawyers to the parties adopted their processes and presented their arguments for and against the case.
When the case was called, Francis Mgboh, who appeared for the plaintiff, Hassan Kafayos, adopted all their processes and urged the court to grant their reliefs. Citing a previous Supreme Court decision, Mr Mgboh argued that the apex court made it clear that candidate nomination issues in an election are constitutional matters.
The lawyer submitted that Mr Lawan was not a candidate in the May 18 APC primary. Mr
Mgboh, who stressed that the election was fixed for May 18 and not May 20, said Lawan never bought a nomination form for the senatorial position.
“He actually was not supposed to be on the list,” he said.
The lawyer also argued that the election was conducted under a repealed act. He held that no election produced Mr Lawan as a senatorial candidate. He urged the court to declare Mr Kafayos as a validly nominated candidate for the poll.
Adedayo Adedeji, who appeared for APC, and Shaibu Aruwa, who represented Mr Lawan, disagreed with Mr Mgboh’s submission.
Mr Adedeji said a preliminary objection was filed to challenge the court’s jurisdiction to hear the suit. The senior lawyer adopted his processes and prayed the court to dismiss Kafayos’ suit with substantial costs.
He described the suit as an abuse of court process, arguing that the plaintiff ought not to have filed it.
“The court has no jurisdiction because the suit is statute-barred, having been filed outside the time frame prescribed by the Constitution,” he said.
He observed that the primary was held in May while the suit was filed long after the time. Mr Adedeji also urged the court to discountenance the document in which questions for cross-examination of subpoenaed witnesses were compiled, describing it as incompetent.
Abdulalim Akeem, who appeared for the APC national chairman, Nentawe Yilwatda, also urged the court to dismiss the suit, while Mr Aruwa sought N100 million in costs against Mr Kafayos.
P. A. Bello, lawyer to the Independent National Electoral Commission, aligned himself with the arguments of Messrs Adedeji and Aruwa. Mr Bello argued that the case lacked merit and ought not to have been filed in the first instance. He urged the court to dismiss the suit with substantial costs.
After listening to the parties, the judge reserved judgment to a date to be communicated to the lawyers.
Mr Kafayos, in the originating summons filed by Mr Mgboh, sued APC, its chairman, Mr Lawan, and INEC as first to fourth defendants, respectively.
The plaintiff, an aggrieved aspirant in the May 18 Yobe North senatorial district primary election, urged the court to void the emergence of Mr Lawan, the former Senate President, as the party’s candidate for the 2027 poll.
(NAN)