A Federal High Court in Abuja has rejected the request by Ondo State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu to strike out a suit by Olusegun Abraham, challenging his (Akeredolu’s) emergence as candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the last governorship election in the state.
The court also rejected Akeredolu’s arguments that it lacked jurisdiction to hear the suit; that the suit relates to issues that are internal to the party: that the suit was inchoate, among others.
Justice Nnamdi Dimgba, in a ruling on Friday, although agreed with Akeredolu that the suit was wrongly commenced, he however refused to strike it out, as requested by the governor.
Instead, the judge converted the suit, originally commenced by way of Originating Summons, to be heard under the Writ of Summons rules, on the grounds that facts in the case were contentions and would required parties to file pleadings.
Justice Dimgba, whose ruling was on two notices of objection filed by Akeredolu, APC and the party’s National Chairman, gave parties up to November 30 this year, to file and exchange all pleadings.
He adjourned to December 6 and 7 for hearing.
Abraham is, by the suit, marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/788/2016, seeking the nullification of the APC’s September 3, 2016 governorship primary, from which Akeredolu emerged as the party’s candidate, on the grounds that it was allegedly manipulated.
Details later….
