A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has dismissed a suit challenging the election of President Bola Tinubu.
The court held that the suit filed by five Abuja residents who sought to stop Tinubu’s inauguration could not be determined at the High Court.
Inyang Ekwo, the presiding judge, dismissed their claims that a president-elect must have a mandatory 25 per cent of votes from the federal capital territory.
He said the plaintiffs had no locus standi to file the suit, as it was a matter to be determined by the presidential election petition tribunal — not the High Court.
Ekwo ordered the lawyer representing the five residents to pay ₦10 million each to the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN).
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The plaintiffs, Anyaegbunam Okoye, David Adzer, Jeffrey Ucheh Osang Paul and Chibuike Nwanchukwu, sued for themselves and other residents and registered voters in the FCT.
Among their prayers were for the court to determine “whether or not the person who is to be elected president of the federal republic of Nigeria, and consequently administrator of the FCT through the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory and the Federal Capital Territory Development Authority, on the first ballot is required by section 134(2)(b) of the Constitution to obtain at least 25% of the votes cast in the FCT.
“Whether the plaintiffs and other residents and registered voters in the FCT Abuja would not be discriminated against if any state within the federal republic of Nigeria were substituted for the FCT.”
The plaintiffs also want a declaration extending President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure pending when a successor is determined in accordance with the constitution.