A Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a suit filed by former Secretary to the Osun State Government, Moshood Adeoti, seeking to void the nomination of Governor Gboyega Oyetola as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the July 16 governorship election.
Adeoti had claimed that Oyetola breached the provision of Article 31 (3) of the APC construction by allegedly not resigning his membership of the Caretaker/Extra-ordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) at least 30 days before the party’s primary won by Oyetola.
In a judgment on Thursday, Justice Inyang Ekwo upheld the objections raised by the APC and Oyetola against the suit’s competence.
Justice Ekwo held among others, that the suit was an abuse of court process because it disclosed no reasonable cause of action against the defendants.
Defendants in the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/203/2022 are the APC, Oyetola and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Justice Ekwo noted that the subject matter of the suit fall outside the scope of Section 285(14) of the Constitution and Section 87(9) of Electoral Act and therefore the case did not qualify as pre-election matter.
Justice Ekwo held that the suit falls within the internal affairs of the party on which the court could not intervene.
The judge also held that the suit was premature, because Adeoti failed to exhaust the internal dispute resolution mechanisms of the APC before approaching the court.
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He further held that the creation of the CECPC was a decision of the APC as an ad-hoc measure to address a problem and that, holding a position in it did not amount to occupying a party office for which officials are elected.
The judge added that Oyetola’s membership of the CECPC did qualify him as holding any office in the party, which is recognised by the APC’s constitution.
Justice Ekwo held that Adeoti ought to have challenged the setting up of the CECPC by the APC, and that having participated in the primary conducted by it, he could no longer turn around to challenge the outcome of the primary.
The judge added: “The plaintiff, in paragraphs 3, 4, 5 of the counter-affidavit to the preliminary objection of the first defendant, has stated what this case is about, that is, breach of the constitution of the first defendant (APC) in the conduct of the primary election held on 19th February, 2022.
“I have stated before that it is Section 285(14)(a) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) that defines what a pre-election matter is and it is Section 87(9) of the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended) that provides the grounds upon which a pre-election action can be founded.
“Neither the provision of Section 285(14)(a) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) nor S. 87 (9) of the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended) makes provision for alleged breach of the provision of the first defendant’s constitution a ground that can found a pre-election action.
“I am inclined to agree with the first defendant that there is no iota of law that supports this action. I find that this action is an abuse of process of this court, and I so hold.
“The summary of the findings of this court is that the subject matter of this action falls outside the scope of matter under Section 87(9) of the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended) and Section 285 (14)(a) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
“The subject matter of this suit falls within the internal affairs of the first defendant and this court cannot interfere.
“The plaintiff did not exhaust the internal mechanism provided by the constitution of the first defendant before filing this action, therefore, this action is premature.
“This suit does not disclose a cause of action, and it is an abuse of process of court. Consequently, I make an order dismissing this suit,” Justice Ekwo held.