February 14 presidential poll: Lawyer seeks disqualification of Buhari

An Abuja lawyer, Chike Okafor, has filed a suit at the Federal High Court seeking to disqualify Muhammadu Buhari, a retired general and presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) from contesting the election slated for February 14.

This is coming after the re-opening of courts on Monday after a three-week industrial action by Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN).

The case with Suit No: FHC/ABJ/CS/01/2015 is relying on Section 131 of the constitution, which prescribes a minimum qualification for nomination to participate in presidential election and

Section 31 of the Electoral Act that stipulates that all presidential candidates depose an affidavit in proof of compliance with constitutional requirement to be president of Nigeria.

The claimant asserts that General Buhari has failed to prove that he possesses the minimum educational qualification to run for the position. The claimant further claims that Buhari’s affidavit that he possesses the West African School Leaving Certificate (WASC) is false, as not only did he not attach it to his nomination form, as compulsorily required, but his claim that the certificates are in the custody of the military has been denied by the director of army public relations, Olajide Laleye, a brigadier general.

Read also: Wole Olanipekun challenges competence of suit against Buhari

Okafor is also asking the Federal High Court to disqualify General Buhari from contesting the 2015 general elections. This, according to him, is provided by Section 31(5) of the Electoral Act that allows a person with reasonable grounds to believe that false information has been given by a candidate in his affidavit or document submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in support of his nomination form, to approach the court for the candidate to be disqualified.

It would be recalled that Kayode Idowu, spokesperson for the INEC chairman, was recently quoted in the media as saying “only the courts could disqualify the APC’s candidate”, following issues raised over his certificate.