A lawsuit filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against former President Muhammadu Buhari over the contentious Section 84(12) of the 2022 Electoral Act has been dismissed by Justice Inyang Edem Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Bubari was hauled before the court by the PDP in an attempt to overturn his 2023 order to the National Assembly to remove Section 84(12) of the 2022 Election Act.
The PDP’s complaint at the time was that, having signed the Electoral Act, Buhari was no longer able to remove the relevant portion of the law.
Abimbola Akintola, Buhari’s attorney, informed the court during Thursday’s hearings that the PDP’s complaint was still pending a ruling from the Supreme Court.
Oladipupo Okpeseyi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, was represented by Akintola, who told the court that PDP had given up on the lawsuit because of its frequent absence from court.
When the issue was summoned on November 23, 2023, the attorney brought it up to Justice Ekwo’s notice. At that time, neither the PDP nor its attorneys showed up in court, and no justification was given.
She further intimated to the judge that PDP and its legal team had not shown up for the hearing on Thursday and had not provided an explanation.
The attorney then requested that the lawsuit be dismissed in order to give the parties more time to prepare their case.
Justice Ekwo dismissed the case for lack of diligent prosecution as no other parties to the action objected.
Buhari had hired five Senior Advocates of Nigeria to represent him in the lawsuit: Chief Oladipupo Okpeseyi, a well-known legal scholar; Yemi Akinseye George; Abdul Atadoga Ibrahim; and Tijani Alkali Gasali and Ehiogie West-Idahosa.
The top attorneys were instructed to support the presidency’s stance that Section 84(12) of the 2022 Election Act is invalid, illegal, and ought to be removed.
The President further based his request for the lawsuit to be dismissed on the fact that it does not reveal any wrongdoing against him, any harm done to the PDP, or any harm that the party would likely experience if Section 84(12) of the Election Act is removed.
In light of a ruling by the same court in Umuahia, Abia State, rendered by Justice Evelyn Anyadike on March 18, 2023 in suit No. FHC/UM/CS/26/2022, which invalidated and set aside Section 84(12) of the Electoral Act 2022, the second ground of the objection was also predicated on abuse of court process.
