By Ajani Okanlawon
Judgement in the suit seeking to disqualify presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, General Muhammadu Buhari, was Tuesday adjourned till today.
Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High in Abuja also consolidated all the pending applications in the suit seeking the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to disqualify the former military ruler from contesting the March 28 election.
Barrister Chukwunweike Okafor had approached the court in January asking it to declare that “the information contained in Buhari’s affidavit dated November 24, 2014, stating that the Secretary of the Military Board was in custody of his WASSC was false and thereby disqualified him from contesting the 2015 general elections.”
The matter has been slowed down due to series of interlocutory applications filed by the defendants.
Mike Ozekhome (SAN) represents the plaintiff while Wole Olanipekun (SAN) and Lateef Fagbemi are counsel to Buhari and APC respectively.
Delivering ruling on Tuesday on whether or not the court will take the originating summon alongside all pending applications as moved by Ozekhome, citing Order 29 Rule 1-5 of the Federal High Court, Justice Ademola said “all pending applications have been consolidated” and the court would take all the applications in one fell swoop.
The court then fixed today for ruling on the two applications, one filed by Chukwuma Ochu, a legal practitioner and Chieftain of the APC in Rivers State chapter, and that of human rights activist, Ebunlolu Adegoruwa, seeking to be joined in the suit as interested parties.
Meanwhile, the APC has warned against any last minute court disqualification of Buhari, to pave the way for an easy victory for President Goodluck Jonathan or another postponement of the elections.
The APC said such a calculated attempt portends great danger for Nigeria, especially with the election billed to hold on Saturday.
“If it is true, as it is being widely speculated across the country, that the Jonathan administration has procured a judgement to disqualify the APC presidential candidate on Wednesday, when the Federal High Court in Abuja is expected to rule on the issue, then it portends a great danger for our country,” the party warned in a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed.
The party said, in addition to other reasons, the six-week postponement of the elections might have been used by those who never wanted the polls to hold in the first instance to shop for such a judgement.
“Anyone who will disqualify a presidential candidate on the eve of an election can only have one and only one purpose for that – to trigger chaos and pandemonium across the country,” APC said.
However, the Director of Media and Publicity of the Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Organisation (PDPPCO), Femi Fani-Kayode, on Tuesday said the party was not interested in getting Buhari disqualified from Saturday’s presidential election.
He also accused Lai Mohammed of being a liar over the claim that PDP wanted Buhari disqualified saying the APC spokesman “has told yet another lie about speculated disqualification of the APC presidential candidate from the March 28 election.”
“We know that he (Buhari) does not have a certificate and that he was not eligible to contest but we have moved on from there and we are ready to meet him in the field,” Fani-Kayode stated.
He said the continuous reference to PDP as a party seeking disqualification of Buhari showed that the opposition party has some internal problems to solve.
