Plaintiffs in the two of the three pending suits
challenging the eligibility of the President-elect,
Muhammadu Buhari, to contest in the March 28,
2015, presidential election have been withdrawn.
Justice Adeniyi Ademola who is presiding over
the matters at the Federal High Court in Abuja
subsequently struck out the matter after the
plaintiffs indicated their intention to withdraw the
suits on Wednesday.
Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN) who is representing
one of the plaintiffs, told the judge on
Wednesday that his client decided to withdraw
his suit to afford the incoming government time
to focus on the “enormous task” of governance.
When the second case which was filed by Max
Ozoaka was called, his lawyer, Dr. Chike Amobi,
also adduced similar grounds for withdrawing the
suit.
With the Wednesday’s development, the
remaining pending eligibility suit against Buhari
is the one filed by Ayakeme Whiskey (FHC/ABJ/
CS/68/15).
As of the time of filing this story, no date has
been fixed for the hearing in the pending suit.
Buhari, who contested on the platform of the All
Progressives Congress, was on April 1 declared
winner of the election, defeating the incumbent
President Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples
Democratic Party.
The plaintiffs had filed the suits challenging
Buhari’s eligibility, asking the court to declare
him ineligible to contest in the election on the
basis of his alleged failure to submit his
certificate of academic qualifications along with
his Form CF001 to the Independent National
Electoral Commission.
The plaintiffs claim that Buhari’s failure to
submit his certificate of academic qualifications
contravened provisions of sections 131 and 318
of the 1999 Constitution and section 31(3) of the
Electoral Act, 2010.
http://www.punchng.com/news/plaintiffs-withdraw-eligibility-suit-against-buhari/

case close