PDP’s suit against Tinubu, Obi’s placeholders dismissed

A suit by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) challenging the appointment of placeholders by the presidential candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Labour Party (LP), Bola Tinubu and Peter Obi has been dismissed. 

In a judgement on Monday, September 19, 2022, Justice Donatus Okorowo of the Federal High Court, Abuja ruled the suit by the PDP was an abuse of court process.

The judge added that the issues raised by the plaintiff were unknown to law.

Justice Okorowo also held that the suit did not disclose any reasonable cause of action against the respondents.

“When a court finds out that a suit is an abuse of court process, the court has the right to dismiss it,” the judge held.

The PDP had in a suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1016/2022 challenged the nomination of placeholders by the presidential candidates of the APC and LP.

Recall that Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the ruling APC had nominated Kabiru Masari as a placeholder running mate to meet the deadline of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), while his LP counterpart, Peter Obi nominated Doyin Okugbe as a placeholder running mate for the same reason.

But the PDP in its suits against the parties argued the term placeholder is unknown to Nigerian law.

The party further argued that the nomination of Masari and Okupe as presidential running mates was valid and could not be overridden by the subsequent nomination of Sen. Kashim Shettima and Sen. Datti Baba-Ahmed.