Adamawa guber: Court strikes out suit challenging Gov Jubrila’s nomination

A Federal High Court in Abuja, on Monday struck a suit challenging the nomination of Governor Muhammed Umaru Jubrilla of Adamawa State as governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2019 general elections.

The suit, which was instituted by another governorship aspirant and chieftain of the APC in the state, Mahmud Halilu Ahmed was struck out by the court on the ground that it has become an academic exercise.

The trial Judge, Justice Iyang Ekwo in his ruling on a preliminary objection, agreed with Governor Jubrillla that the suit has become an academic exercise and will not confer any benefits to any of the two parties.

The judge held that since the governorship election had been conducted and winner declared, the issue of nomination for a party that had lost in the election was of no moment, having been overtaken by event.

Justice Ekwo said he declined jurisdiction to go into the substantive matter because the end result would be of no use to the two main parties in the matter.

Ahmed who came second in the primary election that produced Jubrilla as APC governorship candidate had filed the case praying for disqualification of governor Jubrilla on the ground that he supplied false information relating to his academic qualification to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

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The plaintiff, through his counsel, Ubong Akpan prayed the court to invoke section 177 of the 1999 constitution and section 31 of the Electoral Act 2010 to declare as illegal, unconstitutional, null and void and, to bar the electoral body from accepting the purported nomination.

He also applied for another order prohibiting the APC from submitting Jubrilla’s name to INEC and that having come second, he should be a substitute to Jubrilla.

However, the governor filed a preliminary objection asking the court to decline jurisdiction to hear the suit on the ground that the election had been conducted and lost by the APC and, as such the issue of nomination has become academic exercise.

Justice Ekwo who upheld the preliminary objection agreed that there was no cause of action to pursue by the parties and he, subsequently struck out the matter.