Court strikes out certificate suit against President-elect Muhammadu Buhari

A Federal High Court has dismissed two suits seeking the disqualification of Muhammadu Buhari from the March 28 presidential election.

Justice Adeniyi Ademola of Federal High Court, Abuja, struck out the two suits Wednesday.

There has been controversy over the academic qualification of Mr. Buhari for the election which he eventually won.

Supporters of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, said Mr. Buhari did not meet the constitutional requirement of a secondary school certificate for the post of the president.

Days before the March 28 presidential election, there were concerns Mr. Buhari would be disqualified. The court later adjourned the case to April 22.

There were no fewer than 10 suits seeking Mr. Buhari’s disqualification on different grounds. All the suits were consolidated since they sought the same relief.

In one of the suits, Chukwunweike Okafor sought an order compelling the Independent National Electoral Commission to remove or delete Mr. Buhari’s name and that of the APC from the list of persons and political parties eligible for the office of President.

Mr. Okafor asked the court to hold that the information supplied by the APC flag-bearer in Form C.F 001 that his West African School Certificate was with the Nigerian Army was false and should be disqualified from the race.

In another suit, Max Ozoaka asked the court to disqualify Mr. Buhari on the ground that the INEC Form Cf 001 the APC candidate submitted to INEC was incomplete.

He argued that Mr. Buhari failed to accompany the form with all relevant academic credentials.

Mr. Ozoaka also raised objections regarding some of the information contained in other documents submitted by the APC candidate, including voter’s card.

Credit: Premium Times