The Supreme Court has dismissed the suit brought by the Peoples Democratic Party against the alleged double nomination of Vice-President elect, Kashim Shettima.
The apex court also affirmed the eligibility of the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, to contest the presidential election that held on February 25.
In a unanimous decision by a five-member panel, on Friday, the Supreme Court held that the appeal filed by the PDP to challenge the legality of Tinubu’s candidacy, lacked merit.
PDP sought Tinubu’s disqualification on the ground that Shettima, allowed himself to be nominated for two positions.
It said it was wrong for Shettima to have been nominated twice, both for the Borno Central Senatorial seat and for the Vice Presidential position.
PDP contended that Shettima’s dual nomination, was in gross breach of the provisions of Sections 29(1), 33, 35 and 84(1) and (2) of the Electoral Act, 2022, as amended.
It prayed the court to nullify Tinubu and Shettima’s candidacy. The PDP also applied for an order to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to expunge their names from the list of nominated or sponsored candidates that were eligible to contest the presidential poll.
But the apex court, in its lead judgement that was delivered by Justice Adamu Jauro, held that PDP lacked the locus standi to interfere in affairs of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, which nominated both Tinubu and Shettima for the presidential election.
Upholding the decisions of the Court of Appeal and the Federal High Court in Abuja, which earlier dismissed PDP’s case, the Supreme Court held that section 285 (14) (c ) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, and section 149 of the Electoral Act, 2022, did not confer the locus standi to challenge the candidature of Shettima on the ground of double nomination, on the PDP.
It held that section 84 of the Electoral Act only empowered an aspirant that participated in the primary election of a political party, to challenge the nomination of a candidate by the party.
The apex court held that the PDP failed to establish the injury it suffered as a result of the nomination by the APC, stressing that the law does not permit a political party to dabble in domestic affair of another political party.
It said the PDP could not prove that its civil rights and obligations were in danger of being infringed upon while describing the appeal as the action of “a nosy busy-body and a meddlesome interloper that is peeping into the affairs of its neighbour.”
The Supreme court rebuked the PDP for filing the appeal which it saw as frivolous and capable of exposing the judiciary to public ridicule.
It held that evidence before it showed that Shettima duly withdrew as the candidate of the APC in the Borno senatorial election, on July 6, 2022.
Justice Jauro said, “In whichever angle this appeal is veiwed, it is frivolous and bound to fail.
“From the trial court, down to this court, it has been a waste of precious judicial time.
“The instant appeal was unnecessary and counsel should do better to advice their client against filing this sort of suit in future”.
The Supreme Court awarded N2million against the PDP, in favour of the respondents.
