Court strikes out suit challenging nomination of Adamawa governor

Justice Inyang Ekwo struck out the suit on the grounds that it had become a mere academic exercise.

The suit was filed by Mahmud Ahmed who was also a governorship aspirant in the state on the platform of the APC.

Ahmed, who came second in the primary election that produced Bindow as APC’s governorship candidate, prayed the court to disqualify Jibrilla.

He said this was on the grounds that the governor supplied false information relating to his academic qualification to the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC).

Justice Ekwo, in his ruling on a preliminary objection agreed with Jibrilla that the suit had become an academic exercise and would not confer any benefits on any of the two parties.

The judge held that since the governorship election had been conducted and winner declared, the issue of nomination for a party that had lost in the election was of no moment, having been overtaken by events.

He declined jurisdiction to go into the substantive matter saying that the end result would be of no use to the two main parties in the matter.

Ahmed, through his counsel, Mr Ubong Akpan had prayed the court to invoke Section 177 of the 1999 Constitution and Section 31 of the Electoral Act 2010 to declare Bindow’s nomination unconstitutional, null and void.

He also prayed the court to bar INEC from accepting the purported nomination and an order prohibiting the APC from submitting Jubrilla’s name to INEC and that having come second, he should be used to substitute Bindow.

The governor, however, filed a preliminary objection asking the court to decline jurisdiction to hear the matter.

He premised his objection on the grounds that the election had been conducted and lost by the APC and as such, the issue of nomination had become an academic exercise.