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A Federal High Court in Abuja, yesterday, dismissed the suit to stop the inauguration of Bola Tinubu, who was candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as president.
The suit was filed by five residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The presiding judge, Inyang Ekwo, who gave the judgment held that the plaintiffs lacked the locus standi to file the suit.
He said the suit can only be filed at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal and not the Federal High Court.
He ordered the lawyer representing the five plaintiffs to pay the sum of N10 million each to the Attorney-General of the Federation and the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN).
The plaintiffs, in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/578/2023 and filed on April 28, had averred that Tinubu failed to secure at least 25 per cent of votes cast in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT.)
The plaintiffs — Anyaegbunam Okoye, David Adzer, Jeffrey Ucheh Osang Paul and Chibuike Nwanchukwu — sued for themselves and on behalf of other residents and registered voters in the FCT.
They prayed 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 per cent of the votes cast in the FCT.”
They also wanted a declaration extending former President Buhari’s tenure while also asking the court to set aside the Certificate of Return issued to Tinubu and restrain the CJN and any other judicial officer from swearing him in.
