Buhari's Disqualification

Three Nigerians – Kalu Kalu Agu, Labaran Ismail, Hassy Jyari El-Kunis

– filed the appeal, anchored on 12 grounds, before the Supreme Court

to challenge the July 12, 2019 judgment of the Court of Appeal.

The Peoples Democratic Party and its presidential candidate, Atiku

Abubakar, raised a similar issue in their petition before the

presidential election petitions tribunal.

The three appellants had, on their part, commenced their case before

the Federal High Court in Abuja in 2018, alleging that Buhari falsely

claimed to possess a school certificate he never had.

Justice Ahmed Mohammed of a federal high court in Abuja, in his

judgment delivered on May 2, 2019, struck out the suit for being

statute-barred.

A three-man panel of the court of appeal led by Justice Tinuade

Akomolafe-Wilson, in a unanimous judgment delivered on July 12, 2019,

affirmed the federal high court’s verdict, dismissing the suit on the

grounds that it was statute-barred and the court robbed of

jurisdiction to hear it on merit.

Delivering the lead judgment of the court, Justice Mohammed Idris held

that the matter had become statute-barred having not been filed within

the 14 days period which the cause of action arose, as stipulated

under Section 285(9) of the Nigerian Constitution.

The appellants, through their counsel, Ukpai Ukairo, on July 24, 2019,

are urging the apex court to set aside the verdicts of the federal

high court and the court of appeal.

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