Court of Appeal nullifies judgement banning political appointees from contesting in office
The Court of Appeal in Abuja has set aside the judgment of the Federal High Court in Umuahia, which nullified the provision of Section 84(12) of the Electoral Act 2022.
A Court of Appeal, in a judgement of a three-man panel of judges led by Justice Hamma Akawu Barka nullified the Federal High Court in Umuahia, saying it lacked the jurisdiction to have entertained the suit.
The appellate court stated that the plaintiff, Nduka Edede, did not have the locus standi to file the suit in the first place.
The Court of Appeal added that Edede did not establish any cause of action which could have warranted him to approach the court on the issue or establish that he was directly affected by the provision of section 84(12).
However, the appeal, in a suit marked CA/OW/87/2022, filed by the PDP, the appellate court held that the provision “is unconstitutional because it violates Section 42 (1)(a) of the Constitution and denied a class of Nigerian citizens their right to participate in election.
Consequently, the Court of Appeal struck out the suit marked: FHC/UM/CS/26/2022, which Edede filed before the Umuahia division of the Federal High Court, in consideration of its merit.