Tuesday, a Federal High Court in Abuja dismissed a certificate forgery case brought by the Action Alliance (AA) against Sen. Bola Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress’s presidential candidate (APC).
In a ruling, Justice Obiora Egwuatu stated that the lawsuit brought by AA was prohibited by statute of limitations since it had not been filed within the required 14 days stipulated by the 1999 Constitution (as amended by the Fourth Alteration-Act).
According to Justice Egwuatu, the lawsuit had become academic and highly incompetent, therefore the court lacked the necessary authority to hear it or grant the plaintiff’s requests for relief.
The judge also ruled that the plaintiff acted like a busy body by interfering in the internal business of another party, concluding that it lacked locus standi to bring the lawsuit.
As a result, he dismissed the lawsuit for abuse of the legal system.
In a lawsuit with the file number FHC/ABJ/CS/954/2022, the AA named Sen. Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the APC, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as its first through third defendants, respectively.
The third defendant (Tinubu) claimed on his INEC FORM CF 001 in 1999, which he presented to the first defendant (INEC), that he attended Government College, Ibadan, and the University of Chicago.
In a writ of summons dated and filed on June 21 by its lawyer, U.O. Ukairo, AA requested a court declaration that this claim was false.
It also sought a declaration that the false information on the APC presidential candidate’s “INEC FORM CF 001 wherein he claims to have been awarded a Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics by the University of Chicago is a forged certificate.”
It also requested a declaration that Tinubu was ineligible to run for president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in light of Section 137(1)(j) of the 1999 Constitution because he had submitted a forged certificate to INEC in INEC FORM CF001 in 1999 as a candidate in the general elections for the position of governor of Lagos State.
The party requested a perpetual injunction preventing INEC from releasing Tinubu’s name as a candidate in the general elections. The party urged the court to rule that the APC (2nd defendant submission)’s of Tinubu’s name to the electoral umpire as its 2023 presidential candidate is null and void and of no effect.
Additionally, AA requested a permanent injunction barring INEC from including the APC as a political party on the ballot for the INEC-conducted presidential election in 2023.
However, the APC and Tinubu’s legal team, led by Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, claimed in a preliminary objection dated November 1 and submitted on November 2 that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the case.
They consequently urged the court to dismiss the case completely.
They claimed that the original procedure was fundamentally and permanently flawed.
In addition, the defendants made a number of defences, most notably that the third defendant (Tinubu), had no legal basis for the lawsuit’s allegations.
