Justice Joyce O Abdulmalik of a Federal High Court sitting in Abeokuta, the Ogun State Capital, has dismissed three cases filed against the candidacy of Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State.

Dapo Abiodun was dragged to court by three different parties following his emergence as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, during the Party’s primaries conducted in May.

In one of the cases instituted by a party member, one Eweje Sherifat, against the Governor, the Judge held that a person who did not participate in a primary election for an office cannot invoke the limited jurisdiction of the court to challenge the outcome of that primary.

The Judge remarked that Eweje bought a form for a legislative seat and did not buy a form for the Governorship.

She also added that Eweje even withdrew her candidacy on 10 May 2022 long before she filed the suit and long before 26 May, 2022 when the Governorship primary held.

The court concluded and declared that the Plaintiff had no locus standi to bring the action, adding that the suit was statute barred because it was filed more than 14 days after the cause of action arose.

Consequently, the court declared the suit incompetent and struck it out, describing all other issues raised in the case as academic exercise.

In the second case filed by one Semiu Olanrewaju Alao and others, the Court maintained that the plaintiff were not aspirants because by their own averments, they were not even sold delegate forms and as such, did not participate in any election whether primary or delegates elections.

The court said that some of the Plaintiffs were not aspirants in the primary elections and as such did not qualify under the Constitution to file the suit.

The Judge further declared that the plaintiffs who were not aspirants had no locus standi to file the case.

on the case of a plaintiff who claimed to be a delegate, the Judge remarked that all the Plaintiffs acknowledged that 4th Defendant is the Chairman of the APC and yet the document that Plaintiffs showed highlighting the alleged delegate's name as a delegate was not authenticated by the said 4th Defendant as sent to the National Chairman.

The court concluded that Plaintiffs' counsel failed woefully to establish that 2nd Plaintiff was a delegate and thus failed to establish the locus standi of the Plaintiffs to file the case. 

In the third case, Nuberu Olufemi Adesanya & 2 Ors v. INEC & 3 Ors, the Court cited the case of Alli Modu Sheriff v. PDP. to the effect that a political party is a voluntary club and its decisions are binding on its members who must obey the Party or leave the Party.

Ruling on objections raised by APC, the court agreed that under the APC Constitution, offences against the party include filing an action against Party or its officials without first exhausting internal remedies.

The court found that the purported complaint filed by Plaintiffs was misdirected as under the Party Constitution, it must start from the ward level and climb its way up.

The Court held that the Plaintiff did not exhaust the internal remedy of the party and the case filed was “not justiciable.”

The Court awarded a joint cost of ₦2m in favour of 1st and 2nd Defendants for the institution of the suits.