Adebayo Shittu had filed the suit marked FHC/IB/CS/111/2018, challenging his exclusion from the APC governorship primaries in Oyo state for not having the mandatory NYSC certificate ahead of the March 9 general elections. He joined the Independent National Electoral Commission in the suit.
Striking out the suit, in a ruling today, Friday, the judge, Justice P I. Ajoku said that Adebayo Shittu did not file the case within the time stipulated by law.
“I must first consider the provision of Section 285 of the constitution that makes it mandatory for all pre-election matters to be filed within 14 days of occurrence. This particular case was not filed within 14 days, but outside the date.
“Therefore, I will not bother going into the merit of the case. Haven’t failed to satisfy the dictates of the constitution, the matter is hereby, struck out.”
In his reaction to the ruling , the defence counsel, Adebayo Ojo, who was the former Attorney-General and Commissioner for justice , Oyo State , said that the law has taken it due course.
“The judge acted by the 1999 constitution and it is a victory for democracy,” Ojo said.
NAN reports that the plaintiff’s counsel, Abdulhakeem Mustafa, (SAN) had tendered a 38 paragraph affidavit and 13 exhibits to support his claims.
Shittu had prayed the court to determine whether the action of his party to omit his name in the list of gubernatorial aspirants was lawful or a contravention of the constitution.
The minister, who is also a member of the APC, had claimed that APC’s national leadership omitted his name in the list of its gubernatorial aspirants for the primaries in Oyo State because he did not participate in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme.
He urged the court to, among all other things, determine whether the ground for disqualifying his client was lawful or a contravention of the constitution.
Mustafa argued that the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria required anyone seeking to be a state governor to possess a maximum of Senior Secondary School Certificate and not necessarily an NYSC certificate.
Source: NAN.
