Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on Monday adjourned a suit challenging former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar’s eligibility to vie for the country’s presidency till December 6.
The judge adjourned the matter following the inability of the parties in the suit to regularise their amended processes to accommodate the Adamawa State Attorney-General, who had been joined in the case.
The Adamawa State government had on July 27 sought the court’s order to be joined in the suit.
A group simply known as the Incorporated Trustees of Egalitarian Mission for Africa (EMA) had in a suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/177/2019 asked the court to stop Atiku who was the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 election from vying for the nation’s highest political office in 2023.
EMA insisted that the ex-Vice President was not eligible to contest for presidency because he was not a Nigerian by birth.
The group asked the court to hold among others, that considering the provisions of sections 25(1) &(2) and 131(a) of the 1999 Constitution and the circumstances surrounding the politician’s birth he cannot contest for the presidency.
Atiku, PDP, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) were listed as respondents in the suit.
At Monday’s proceedings, the EMA’s counsel, Raphael Oyewole, said though the matter was slated for hearing, the motion for the extension of time has not been filed because he was yet to serve some of the parties in the suit.
The judge, who was unhappy over the handling the case by the plaintiff’s counsel, said: “This is a matter you filed since 2019, and you are just filing your processed this morning after the last adjournment.”
He adjourned the matter till December 6 for mention.
