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The Federal High Court sitting in Ibadan, on Friday struck out a suit filed by the Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, against the All Progressives Congress(APC) for excluding his name from the list of governorship candidates in Oyo State over his inability to present his NYSC certificate.
Shittu, who was screened out of the APC governorship primaries in for not having NYSC certificate, filed a suit marked FHC/IB/CS/111/2018 challenging the party’s decision.
Delivering judgment on the matter, Justice Patricia Ajoku, stated that Shittu failed to file the case within the time stipulated by law. She then struck out the case.
“I must first consider the provision of Section 285 of the Constitution that makes it mandatory for all pre-election matters to be filed within 14 days of occurrence.
“This particular case was not filed within 14 days, but outside the date. Therefore, I will not bother going into the merit of the case.
“Having failed to satisfy the dictates of the Constitution, the matter is hereby struck out,” Justice Ajoku said.
In his reaction to the ruling, the defense counsel, Mr. Adebayo Ojo, said the law had taken its due course.
“The judge acted by the 1999 Constitution and it is a victory for democracy,” Ojo said.
Abdulhakeem Mustafa(SAN), counsel to the plaintiff had tendered a 38-paragraph affidavit and 13 exhibits to support his claims.
Shittu had prayed the court to determine whether the action of the party to omit his name in the list of governorship candidates was lawful or if it contravened the constitution.