A lawsuit seeking to disqualify Mr. Abiodun Moshood Aro, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for Ikorodu West in the Lagos House of Assembly, was dismissed by the Federal High Court in Lagos yesterday.
Oluwatosin Onamade, the plaintiff/applicant, filed the lawsuit. According to Justice Nicholas Oweibo, the lawsuit was statute-barred and the internal business of a political party is not subject to judicial review.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the APC, and Aro were joined as first through third defendants in Onamade's lawsuit, FHC/L/CS/1287/22, which the judge decided.
The plaintiff demanded that Aro be disqualified from running as the APC candidate for the Lagos State House of Assembly, Ikorodu Constituency II, in the general elections of 2023.
He demanded that Onamade be recognised as the candidate and asserted that Aro was not an APC member.
However, Aro filed a Notice of Preliminary Objection disputing the suit's competency and the court's authority to hear and decide the matter through his attorney, Yusuf Shuayb Adebayo.
The attorney said that the outcome of Aro's APC membership status was crucial to the plaintiff's case and noted that the Supreme Court had already ruled in a number of cases that party membership matters are outside the purview of a party's internal affairs and are not subject to the law.
He added that because the lawsuit was filed on July 5, 2022, 39 days after the APC primary and outside the window allowed by Section 285 (9) of the 1999 Constitution as modified for filing actions of this kind, it was statute-barred.
He asserts that in accordance with Section 285(9) of the Constitution, the plaintiff must file his lawsuit within 14 days of the occurrence of the alleged incident.
He requested that the lawsuit be completely dismissed and/or thrown out in the court's order.
Adebayo's contention was sustained by Justice Oweibo.
He held: “A careful examination of the second defendant’s affidavits which state that the election result was announced on the 25th of May and this action was instituted on the 5th of July which is outside 14 days prescribed by electoral Act. Therefore this action is statute-barred.
“I agree with the counsel to the plaintiff that the internal affairs of a political party are not justiciable.
“I, therefore, find and hold that this present action before me is statute-barred and not justiciable.
“On a final note, the whole suit is hereby dismissed.”