The Supreme Court on Tuesday struck out a suit brought before it by a governorship aspirant of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Ondo state, Dr Segun Abraham challenging the nomination of Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN) as the APC governorship candidate in the 2016 governorship election in Ondo state.
The apex court struck out the suit on the ground that it has been statute-barred, having not been filed within the 14 days allowed in law.
In a ruling delivered by Justice Mohammed Musa Dattijo, the apex court agreed with Chief Akin Olujinmi (SAN), counsel to governor Akeredolu that the suit has been caught by the 4th Alteration to the 1999 constitution and has, therefore, become incompetent in law.
The court held that contrary to the 14 days allowed by law for such a court action to be instituted, Abraham, who participated in the primary election along with Akeredolu, but lost filed his case 28 clear days, thereby rendering his own case incompetent for any court to adjudicate upon.
Olujinmi, who took an interlocutory matter before the apex court had drawn the attention of the five-man panel of justices of the apex court to the validity of the case, adding that the entire suit by the governorship aspirant had died in view of the new law that a pre-election suit must be brought before court within 14 days for it to be valid.
The senior counsel, who is a former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice further informed the apex court justices that there was nothing to adjudicate upon in Abraham’s matter, has become an academic exercise that will bring no benefit to the aspirant.
Although counsel to Abraham, Prof Joash Amupitan (SAN) had attempted to convince the apex court that the suit was not a pre-election matter, Justice Dattijo however, in his ruling, held that the suit was a pre-election matter and had become incompetent since it was not filed within 14 days.
Abraham, who lost the APC nomination to Akeredolu on September 3, 2016, primary election had dragged the APC, Akeredolu and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) before a federal high court, Abuja praying for an order to set aside the primary election that produced Akeredolu as APC governorship candidate.
His grouse was that the list of delegates used for the primary election was doctored to give undue advantage to Akeredolu.
Abraham also prayed the high court to declare him as the authentic governorship candidate of the APC and that the court should order that he should be sworn in as the governor of Ondo state