Posted by A Federal High Court of Appeal in Abuja has fined Mr Kenneth Udeze, the ousted national chairman of the Action Alliance, AA, for filing a complaint in the name of the party against the APC’s Bola Tinubu and Kashim Shettima, the party’s presidential candidate and running mate, respectively.
While delivering judgment, Justice Binta Nyako stated that the plaintiff lacked locus standi to institute the lawsuit because he is not the authentic AA national chairman conferred with the ability to file the case, describing the matter as a waste of judicial time.
Mr Udeze had sued the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, APC, Tinubu, and Shettima as the first to fourth defendants in a summons “FHC/ABJ/CS/1256/22,” filed the claim in the name of AA as the plaintiff.
He requested a declaration that Tinubu’s nomination of Shettima as his vice presidential candidate is null and void due to the specific provision of Section 35 of the Electoral Act of 2022, which states that Shettima may be nominated in more than one constituency for the 2023 elections.
According to him, Kashim Shettima broke the law by being nominated as the senatorial candidate for Borno Central District and then as the APC’s vice presidential candidate.
He had also requested a restraining order against Tinubu and Shettima, who were running as APC presidential and vice presidential candidates in the February 25 poll. He further requested that INEC refrain from including their names as presidential and vice presidential candidates in the final list of candidates for the aforementioned election.
However, Justice Nyako pointed out that the suit did not come from the genuine AA executives, emphasizing that the Kenneth Udeze-led AA side had the legal right to bring the case and thus dismissed it for lack of locus standi.
The judge criticized Udeze’s lawyer for failing to properly instruct his client and ordered both the counsel and his client to pay a one million naira fine into the Federal Government’s Treasury Single Account.