The Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed October 12, for the hearing of a legal suit seeking disqualification of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), from contesting the 2023 elections for allegedly presenting the forged certificate.
Justice Obiora Egwuatu fixed the new date to enable parties in the suit complete the filing of their processes and exchange same as required by law before the adjourned date.
“When the case came up on Thursday, counsel to Action Alliance which instituted the suit, Mr Ukpai Ukairo, informed the court that he just received the Notice of Preliminary Objection from Tinubu asking the court not to entertain the case against him on various grounds.
“Amongst the grounds, Tinubu claimed that the foundation for the certificate forgery suit against him was rooted in the 1999 electoral forms he submitted to the then electoral body.
“He also claimed that the report of the Lagos State House of Assembly which probed him on the alleged certificate forgery is the main foundation of the fresh suit and hence, has become statute-barred.
“However, counsel to the Action Alliance, Ukairo informed the court that Tinubu’s claims, especially on the statute-barred position would be adequately addressed in the subsequent proceedings and further told the Judge that Tinubu’s claims made orally by his counsel has to be made formally and served on him to enable him to respond appropriately.
“While the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC which is the 1st defendant in the suit, sought time to respond to the suit, the APC was not represented in court despite proof of service of the suit on it.”
