An Abuja-based lawyer, Mr. Chukwunweike Okafor, on Monday, January 26, 2015 went before the Federal High Court with a suit for the disqualification of the All Progressive Congress presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari since he did not meet up with the educational demands to qualify him for the general elections set to hold on February 14, 2015.
The lawyer’s originating summons which was marked FHC/ABJ/CS/01/2015 has Buhari, APC and the Independent National Electoral Commission as the first, second and third defendants respectively.
According to Punch, the suit was filed pursuant to Section 131 of the Constitution, which prescribes a minimum qualification for nomination to participate in the presidential election and Section 31 of the Electoral Act that requires all presidential candidates to depose to an affidavit that they have satisfied and complied with the constitutional requirements to be President of Nigeria.
The plaintiff is of the opinion that Buhari’s form CF001 with the INEC which stated that he obtained West African Senior School Certificate could be invalid as the certificate had generated much controversy since it went viral.
Therefore, Okafor urged the court to declare that “the information contained in Buhari’s affidavit dated November 24, 2014, stating that the Secretary of the Military Board was in custody of his WASSC was false and thereby disqualified him from contesting the 2015 general elections.”
Okafor who filed the suit through his counsel, Chief Ugo Ugunnadi, called for an order of the court “compelling INEC to withdraw, remove and/or delete the names of the 1st and 2nd defendants from the list of persons or political parties eligible to contest for the Office of the President of Nigeria in the 2015 general elections.”
Meanwhile, the court is yet to fix a date for the hearing of the lawyer’s summons as courts just resumed work on Monday, January 26, 2015 after a three-week strike action embarked upon by judicial workers.
