Courts Adjourns Buhari's Eligibility to April 22

A Federal High Court in Abuja today adjourned all the suits challenging the eligibility of the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari,‎ to contest in the poll slated for Saturday, till April 22 and 23.

The adjournment implies that no judicial pronouncement can be made in the suits before the conduct of the poll on Saturday.

Justice‎ Adeniyi Ademola after fixing the new dates for the suits, explained that his decision was informed by the court’s impending Easter holiday and judges’ conference that would follow.

The judge fixed the new dates without entertaining suggestions from lawyers to the parties.

The plaintiffs in all the three suits want the court to declare Buhari ineligible to contest in the election on the basis of his alleged failure to submit his certificate of academic qualifications along with his Form CF001 to the Independent National Electoral Commission.

The plaintiffs claim that Buhari’s failure to submit his certificate of academic qualifications contravened provisions of sections 131 and 318 of the 1999 Constitution and section 31(3) of the Electoral Act, 2010.

The court in his ruling described the intending parties as “busy bodies an‎d meddlesome interlopers”.

‎The parties seeking to be joined and whose applications were dismissed on Wednesday were Chukwuma Ochu and Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa.

Buhari, APC and the Independent National Electoral Commission are the defendants in the suit and the other pending ones.

‎Justice Ademola ruled on Wednesday  that he would hear the main suits together with the preliminary applications filed by the defendants on the next adjourned date.