The Federal High Court sitting in Enugu had dismissed the suit seeking to disqualify all the candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party in Enugu
State.
One Chika Idoko of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, had
approached the court to compel INEC to disqualify all PDP candidates for breaching the electoral acts in the conduct of their party primaries.
In her judgement on Friday, the presiding judge, Justice Folashade
Giwa-Ogunbanjo, said the matter was not statute-barred because it was not filed outside 14 days after the first defendant (INEC) had published the names of candidates.
The judge however stated that the appellant lacked the locus standi
to insstitute the matter because he was not an aspirant or a member of the second respondent(PDP).
To this effect, Justice Ohunbanjo struck out the suit, saying “This
court lacks jurisdiction to hear the originating summons because it will be an exercise in futility.
“Where the plaintiff lacks local standi to maintain the matter, the court lacks jurisdiction to entertain the suit”.
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