8.4 C
New York
Thursday, March 28, 2024

APGA, Senator Igbeke Move To Stop Buhari Through The Court

Published:

LATEST NEWS

- Advertisement -

General-Buhari-as-Military-Head-of-State

As the March 28, 2015 Presidential election draws nearer, the All
Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and one-time Senator representing
Anambra North Senatorial District, Chief Alphonsus Ubanesse Igbeke
have gone to the Federal High Court Awka, Anambra State to stop the
All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential candidate, General
Muhammadu Buhari  from contesting the forthcoming election on grounds
of breaches of relevant provisions of the Constitution of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria and the Electoral Act 2010.

In a Motion Exparte dated March 11, 2015, the plaintiffs through their
lawyer, C. N. Nsobundu, and Emeka Nri-Ezedi Esq sought relief of the
court headed by Justice M. I Abubakar, to serve General Buhari and
INEC the originating summons and other processes in the suit.

In simple terms, APGA and Senator Igbeke are praying the court to halt
the presidential ambition of General Buhari because in the form he
submitted to INEC seeking to contest the 2015 Presidential Election,
Buhari had indicated his interest to contest as the flag-bearer of the
All Progressives Congress Party (APCP) which the plaintiffs contend is
not an existing political party in Nigeria today. The plaintiffs
contend that the only party that bears a semblance of the platform
that Buhari cited as the party he is standing election in is the All
Progressives Congress (APC).

They are also praying the court to determine whether General Buhari
who failed to show the proof that he is a citizen of Nigeria by birth
in his INEC Form CF001 is qualified to vie for the office of president
of Nigeria. The contention here is that in failing to attach his birth
certificate to his INEC Form, Buhari had left a huge gap in his
profile that makes people wonder whether he is truly a Nigerian.

The Plaintiffs also contend that General Buhari failed to attach any
evidence of his purported educational qualifications to his INEC Form
and consequently fell below the minimum standards for candidates
standing election for the office of president.

APGA and Senator Igbeke are also praying the court to determine
whether Buhari who “falsely” claimed in his Voter’s Card submitted
alongside the INEC Form that he was public servant as at January 22nd
2011should not be disqualified from contesting the coming presidential
election.

They further averred that the APC presidential candidate who deposed
an affidavit at an Abuja High Court in November 2014 claiming that
“All my academic qualifications documents as filled in my Presidential
Form, President APC/100/2015 are currently with the Secretary Military
Board as at the time of this affidavit,” ought to be disqualified from
contesting the said election for lying on oath.

After hearing the Motion Exparte by the plaintiffs’ lawyer, Justice
Abubakar granted them leave to serve General Buhari with the
originating summons and other processes in the suit, out of the
jurisdiction of the court i.e be outside Anambra State and in Kaduna
State. General Buhari will be served the processes at 4A & B Sultan
Lane, Off Sultan Road, Kaduna while INEC will be served at INEC
Office, House of Assembly Road, Awka.

Justice Abubakar also granted an order for the urgent hearing of the
suit by abridging/limiting the time within which the defendants shall
enter appearance and file their defence to the originating summons to
5 days and the time within which the plaintiffs shall file a reply to
the defence to the originating summons to 3 days.

He also gave an order for the substituted serve of the Originating
summons and other processes in the suit on the 1st defendant by
publishing the processes in two Nigerian National Daily Newspapers to
wit: SUN Newspaper and Vanguard Newspaper.

With this move, the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) has opened a
new vista in the current efforts to deepen the Nigerian democratic
process by asking the judiciary some hard-boiled questions on whether
a candidate seeking the office of President can do so after making
false claims and lying on oath.

The court has scheduled March 23, this year as return date for hearing
the Exparte Motion.

Hey there! Exciting news - we've deactivated our website's comment provider to focus on more interactive channels! Join the conversation on our stories through Facebook, Twitter, and other social media pages, and let's chat, share, and connect in the best way possible!

Join our social media

For even more exclusive content!

spot_imgspot_imgspot_img

Of The Week
CARTOON

TOP STORIES

- Advertisement -

Of The Week
CARTOON

247Ureports Protects its' news articles from plagiarism as an important part of maintaining the integrity of our website.