Court upholds National Assembly’s power to reoder election time-table

The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja on Wednesday has nullified the decision of the Federal High Court that earlier said the National Assembly lacks the powers to determine the sequence of next year’s general elections.

A Federal High Court in Abuja ruled on April 25 that the National Assembly did not have the power to amend the election time-table. However, the Court of Appeal stated that the Federal High Court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the suit in the first place.

President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa who headed a five-man panel of the court ruled in her judgment that the suit was premature as a bill could not be challenged in the law court until it became an Act.

The court, in upholding the appeal by the National Assembly, also held that the Accord Party which instituted the suit before the Federal High Court in Abuja lacked the locus standi to file the action.

Justice Bulkachuwa held that since the bill did not affect its rights or the obligations of the party, the “general interest” available to the public did not confer the rights on it to challenge the bill.