By Yemi Oyeyemi, Abuja.
The Supreme Court has given a judicial seal of approval for the inauguration of President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Vice President-elect Kashim Shettima with the dismissal of a suit by the People’s Democratic Party PDP, seeking their disqualification from the 2023 presidential election.
The apex court on Friday held that the PDP’s suit praying disqualification of Tinubu and Shetima on ground of alleged double nomination by Shetima was grossly lacking in merit and dismissed it.
Justice Adamu Jauro who delivered the lead judgment slammed a fine of N2 million on PDP for poke its nose into the internal affairs of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the conduct of its primary elections and nomination of its candidates.
Justice agreed with Tinubu’s lawyer, Prince Lateef Fagbemi SAN, that PDP acted as a busybody and meddlesome interloper in the way and manner it dabbled into APC’S affairs unjustly.
The apex court held that apart from the fact that PDP lacked requisite jurisdiction to institute the suit, the party also failed to provide scintilla of evidence that Shetima engaged in double nomination.
The claim of PDP’ on the alleged double nomination of the Vice President-elect was described as most unfortunate and a clear deliberate mischief to mislead the court and the country.
The Supreme Court also agreed with Fagbemi that no matter the pains of PDP on how APC conducted it’s primary election and nominated its candidates, PDP must remain an onlooker.
“It is abundantly clear that the Appellant (PDP) in the totality of its position in the instant case, is peeping and poke nosing into the affairs of another party as a busy body and meddlesome interloper”
The Court held that the action of PDP was painful because it used the social media to set a booby trap for the Supreme Court to blackmail it. ‘This is most unfortunate, unwarranted and uncalled for.”
Details later…