On Thursday, the Gusau-based Federal High Court denied the Action Peoples Party's (APP) request to join the alleged perjury case against Governor Bello Matawalle.
For lack of merit, Justice Aminu Bappa-Aliyu dismissed the application, and the substantive lawsuit hearing was postponed until November 7, 2022.
On October 27, Usman Ndaliman, the APP's attorney, filed the application to be added as a third claimant in the substantive lawsuit.
As the first and second claimants in the lawsuit, The Northern Youth Assembly and a man named Mannir Haidarahad filed it.
In the substantive lawsuit, the plaintiffs alleged that Matawalle's academic and birth credentials were inaccurate when he submitted them to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in order to run for governor in 2023.
The case, earlier filed at the Federal High Court, Abuja, was transferred to the Federal High Court Gusau, and was listed for mention on Oct. 4, and adjourned to Oct.19, for further mention.
When the case came up on Oct. 19, the judge again, adjourned the matter to Oct. 27, for definite hearing.
At the resumed hearing on Oct. 27, the APP counsel drew the attention of the court to an application filed by his client seeking to be joined in the suit as claimant.
Ndaliman said his motion followed an application dated Oct. 20 and filed Oct. 21, before the court.
He said that the APP’s application was accompanied by an affidavit and a written address.
Counsel to Matawalle and three other respondents, acknowledged that they had been served with copies of the application.
The other respondents include All Progressives Congress (APC), its Zamfara state chairman, Alhaji Tukur Danfulani and INEC.
The counsel did not object to the application, and the court, therefore adjourned to Monday, Oct. 31 to rule on the APP’s application, which was shifted to Thursday, Nov. 3.
However, counsel to Matawalle, Ahmed Raji, SAN, filed a motion of preliminary objection on the matter.
He said that the “plaintiffs were not known to law” as they were not registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission as required by law.
The documents provided by the plaintiffs contained in suit number FHC/GS/CS/27/2022, claimed there were three different dates of birth submitted on three occasions to INEC by Matawalle between 2015 and 2022.
The petitioners claimed that the documents Matawalle presented to INEC for the 2015, 2019 and 2023 elections regarding his secondary school qualifications were also not the same.
They prayed the court to declare a case of perjury and non-possession of valid minimum secondary school certificate against the Zamfara governor.
However, Bappa-Aliyu dismissed the APP application, saying however that the party was capable of instituting a fresh suit against the defendants without prejudice.
He adjourned the case to Nov. 7, for definite hearing.