From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
It was double victory for the President-elect, Bola Tinubu as a Federal High Court dismissed a suit filed by three individuals seeking to stop his inauguration on May 29 over alleged falsification of his age and dual citizenship status.
The ruling by Justice James Omotosho came few hours after the Supreme Court dismissed another suit by the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) seeking a similar prayer over alleged double nomination of Vice Presideent-elect, Kashim Shettima, for lacking in merit.
The plaintiffs, Praise Ilemona Isaiah, Pastor Paul Isaac Audu, and Dr. Anongu Moses, alleged in their FHC/ABJ/C5/657/2023 suit that Tinubu, who was declared the winner of the presidential election held on Saturday, February 25, lied on oath in the Form EC9 he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in support of his qualifications to contest the election.
In his ruling on Friday, Justice James Omotosho agreed with counsel to Tinubu,Lateef Fagbemi , SAN, that the suit by the trio was unconstitutional, frivolous, vexatious, and an abuse of the court process.
Justice Omotosho held that the plaintiffs lacked the locus standi to file the suit, adding that the court could not exercise jurisdiction to hear it because it relates to a presidential election.
The court also stressed that under Section 285 (14) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, only an aspirant could challenge the qualification or nomination of a candidate in an election.
It further held that since the election has already been conducted, only the Court of Appeal has the jurisdiction to entertain cases arising from the presidential election.
Justice Omotosho concluded that the plaintiffs’ legal action was filed in bad faith because it was intended to expose the judiciary to ridicule.