Nigeria: Court Dismisses Challenge to Electoral Chief

Daily Independent (Lagos)

Tunde Opeseitan and Dolapo Tunde-Muraina

18 March 2011

Lagos — A Federal High Court in Lagos on Friday struck out a suit filed by the former National Legal Adviser of National Conscience Party (NCP), Ezekwesiri Eluche, challenging the propriety of the appointment of Prof. Attahiru Jega, as chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Mohammed Liman, in a ruling at about 5:30pm, held that Eluche lacked the locus standi to institute the suit, and that he failed to comply with the provisions of Sheriff and Civil Processes Act, which stipulates that an originating summons to be served outside jurisdiction must be specially endorsed.

The court added that the suit was incurably defective, and thereafter dismissed it.

Eluche, a lawyer, had filed the suit claiming that Jega is not legally qualified to be INEC chairman because his appointment by President Goodluck Jonathan and confirmation by the Senate were done against constitutional provision.

He stressed that Jega, being the Vice Chancellor of Bayero University, Kano (BUK) and a public servant at the time of his appointment, was not qualified to head INEC.

Eluche had argued that under Sections 156 (1) (a) and 65 (2) (b) of the Constitution, Jega was not legally qualified, as he was not a member of any political party nor was he sponsored by any political party for INEC top job.

The Federal Government and Jega had filed separate preliminary objections to the suit, contending that the court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain it and that Eluche also lacked the locus standi to institute the action.

The INEC boss had argued that the originating summons issued at the Federal High Court, Lagos was served on him in Abuja, which was outside the court’s jurisdiction, stressing that the originating summons did not contain the mandatory endorsement as to service outside jurisdiction of issuance, and as such, the court lacked jurisdiction to adjudicate.

However, Eluche, who was NCP House of Representatives candidate for Owerri in 2003, stressed in an affidavit that he intends to participate in the ballot next month, and that his election may be a fruitless one going by Jega’s lack of qualification to head the INEC.

In a related development, Stephen Adah of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikeja on Friday struck out a motion filed by the presidential candidate of National Action Council (NAC), Olapade Agoro who was seeking court order to restrain Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from going ahead to conduct April general elections pending the determination of a suit to determine the validity of the INEC’s election timetable.

Agoro sought an order of court to determine whether the timetable released by INEC on Nov. 23, 2010 for elections to be held in April 2011 was still valid considering that the Amended 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria was singed into law by President Goodluck Jonathan after the release of the timetable.

Adah, while delivering his ruling held that the application was incompetent and also lacked merit adding that the plaintiff failed to file a motion on notice to support the application and this was one of the consequences of being a litigant in person.

AllAfrica – All the Time