Kebbi gov, Bagudu, loses bid to stop disqualification suit

A Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja, on Thursday, ruled that it had jurisdiction to hear and determine a suit, seeking an order, declaring Governor Abubakar Bagudu of Kebbi State unqualified to contest the April 11, 2015, state governorship election, which he won.

Justice Adeniyi Ademola held in a ruling that the court had jurisdiction to entertain some of the plaintiffs' prayers which he said qualified as pre-election matters that fell within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court.

The judge was delivering ruling on the separate notices of preliminary objection against the suit filed by the defendants comprising Bagudu, his party, the All Progressives Congress, and the Independent National Electoral Commission.

The plaintiffs are Bagudu's main
opponent in the April 11, 2015 election, Maj. Gen. Bello Sarkin-Yaki (retd.), and two others – Anthony Itanyi and Sahabi Sami.

Through their lawyer, Mr. Tochukwu
Maduka, the plaintiffs had instituted the suit, numbered FHC/ABJ CS/312/2015, asking the court to declare Bagudu incompetent to contest the governorship poll.

The plaintiffs asked the court to
disqualify Bagudu as a candidate in the election and remove him from office on the grounds that the governor gave falseinformation in the Affidavit of Personal Particulars otherwise called Form CF.001
submitted by him to INEC.

The plaintiffs contended that claim by Bagudu in the Form CF.001 to the effect that he was not under a fine for offence "involving in dishonesty or fraud or any offence imposed by a court or tribunal is false." They claimed that contrary to Bagudu's
claim, it had been discovered that he was allegedly fined by a court in the United States of America.

In his ruling on Thursday, Justice
Ademola held that the defendants'
notices of preliminary objection
succeeded in part and therefore struck out prayers 6, 8 and 9 in the plaintiffs' writ of summons seeking the court's orders removing Bagudu from office and swearing in Sarkin-Yaki in his stead. He held that such prayers could only be heard and determined by the Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal.

But the judge sustained prayers 1, 2, 3, 4 and 7, which, he said, fell within the category of pre-election reliefs, which the Federal High Court had jurisdiction to hear and determine.
According to the judge, by virtue of
Section 31 (5) and (6) of the Electoral Act, the Federal High Court has jurisdiction to hear a pre-election case, which challenges the qualification of a candidate on the basis of alleged false representation made in Form CF.001 submitted by such candidate.
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