By 
Bisi ABASS
The suit seeking to overturn the nomination of Governor-elect Ademola Jackson Nurudeen Adeleke as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate has been dismissed.
Justice Obiora Egwuatu of the Federal High Court in Abuja ruled that Awoyemi Oluwatayo Lukman lacked locus standi to file the suit.
Lukman had dragged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the PDP, and Adeleke before the court, seeking an order to void and set aside Adeleke’s name on grounds of alleged unlawful action.
According to the plaintiff, Adeleke’s name was hurriedly submitted by PDP on March 11, as against between March 14 and 18 as contained in the INEC guidelines.
Due to Adeleke’s failure to submit his name within the time frame set by INEC, the plaintiff asked the court to declare the submission illegal, unlawful, null and void.
He claimed that INEC must follow its official guidelines and that anything done outside of those guidelines is a violation of the Electoral Act 2022.
In addition, the judge ruled that the lawsuit filed 28 days after the governorship primary was barred by the statute of limitations because it was filed outside of the 14-day window required by Section 285 of the 1999 Constitution, which mandates that all pre-election lawsuits be filed within 14 days.
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