Appeal Court nullifies judgment voiding Section 84(12) of amended Electoral Act

Appeal Court nullifies judgment voiding Section 84(12) of amended Electoral Act

The Court of Appeal in Abuja has set aside the judgment of the Federal High Court in Umuahia which voided the provision of Section 84(12) of the Electoral Act 2022.

Delivering the new ruling on Wednesday, a three-member panel of the court headed by Justice Hamma Akawu Barka held that the Federal High Court Umuahia had no jurisdiction to have entertained the case because the plaintiff, Nduka Edede, lacked the locus standi to have filed the suit in the first place.

The Court of Appeal further held that the plaintiff did not establish any cause of action to have warranted his approaching the court on the issue because he did not establish that he was directly affected by the provision.

The Appellate Court then struck out the suit marked: FHC/UM/CS/26/2022 which Edede filed before the Federal High Court in Umuahia.

The Court of Appeal, while affirming the appeal on the merit, however 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.

In the appeal marked: CA/OW/87/2022, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had dragged the President, the Attorney General of the Federation, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC, and several others before the Umuahia court, challenging the legality of the amendment of the Electoral Act by the National Assembly after it had been signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari.

editor

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

%d