Friday, 29th March 2024
To guardian.ng
Search

Forgery: Court dismisses PDP’s suit against Kwara gov

By Ameh Ochojila (Abuja) and Odun Edward (Ilorin)
13 January 2023   |   3:39 am
A Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed the certificate forgery suit instituted against Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq of Kwara State by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for lack of merit and jurisdiction. Justice Inyang Ekwo, while dismissing the PDP’s suit, yesterday, held that it was baseless, unwarranted and constituted a gross abuse of the…

Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq

A Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed the certificate forgery suit instituted against Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq of Kwara State by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for lack of merit and jurisdiction.

Justice Inyang Ekwo, while dismissing the PDP’s suit, yesterday, held that it was baseless, unwarranted and constituted a gross abuse of the court process.

The PDP had sued the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the governor and the All Progressives Congress (APC) as first to third defendants respectively.

In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1324/2022, PDP had prayed that the governor and APC be disqualified from the 2023 governorship election over alleged presentation of forged West African Examination Council (WAEC) certificate by the second defendant to secure nomination.

PDP also prayed for an order of the court compelling INEC to delist the governor and APC from those cleared for the general elections.

However, in his judgment, Ekwo upheld the preliminary objection to the suit filed on the governor’s behalf by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Lateef Fagbemi.

The judge agreed with Fagbemi that the purported certificate forgery and perjury had been raised in another suit in 2019 by PDP’s former governorship candidate, Rasaki Atunwa, adjudicated upon and dismissed by Justice Bassey Ikpeme for being worthless and unmeritorious.

Ekwo held that PDP lacked requisite locus standi to challenge the primary election that produced AbdulRasaq as APC governorship candidate because the opposition party was not an aspirant in the primary.

He further agreed with Fagbemi that PDP was a meddlesome interloper because it has no right whatsoever to dabble into the internal affairs of the APC.

According to the judge, the suit disclosed no reasonable cause of action because the alleged certificate forgery had been looked into and dismissed as far back as 2019.

Besides, Ekwo held that the suit has no life to sustain it or legs to stand upon, having been instituted outside the period required by law.

“Once a court is satisfied with the proceedings before it that they amount to abuse of process, the court has the right, in fact, duty, to invoke its coercive powers to punish the party, which is in abuse of its process.

“Such power is often exercisable by a dismissal of the action, which constituted the abuse. I, therefore, make an order dismissing this case for being an abuse of process of court,” the Judge held.

In the fresh suit filed on behalf of PDP by a SAN, Chief Paul Erokoro, it asked the court to invoke Sections 171 and 285 of the 1999 Constitution as well as Section 29 of the Electoral Act to quash the planned participation of the governor in the forthcoming election.

0 Comments