Court Orders Hearing Of Interlocutory Applications And Substantive Suit In The Case To Disqualify General Buhari Over Perjury And WASC Certificate Scandal

Justice A. F. A. Ademola of Federal High Court 6, Abuja, has ordered
that all the applications filed in the matter seeking to disqualify
General Muhammadu Buhari who is the Presidential candidate of the All
Progressives Congress (APC) in the general elections, be heard
together with the substantive Originating Summons seeking to
disqualify him from contesting the March 28 Presidential election and
not separately.

When the case, Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/01/2015, filed by Mr. Chukwunweike
Okafor, an Abuja based legal practitioner, came-up for hearing of all
the pending applications on the 19th of March, 2015, Counsel to the
Plaintiff, Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, had argued before the court that
Order 29 of the Federal High Court Civil Procedure Rules, 2009, is a
mandatory provision of the law which enjoins the court to hear both
the interlocutory applications and the substantive suit together in
one fell swoop. Ozekhome cited several legal authorities to buttress
his position, arguing that time was of the essence in this
pre-election matter, so as to enable the court decide once and for
all, whether or not Buhari was qualified to stand for the March 28,
Presidential election.

Counsel to General Buhari, Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, had opposed the
said application wherein he urged the court to discountenance the
submissions of Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, since by the order of court
made on 23rd February, 2015, only the interlocutory applications were
ripe for hearing. Prince Lateef Fagbemi SAN and Mr. Hassan Liman SAN,
counsel to the 2nd and 3rd Defendants (APC and INEC), respectively,
aligned with the submissions of Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, Counsel to
Buhari.

The court in its considered ruling today, on 24th March, 2015, held
that since this matter is a pre- election matter and there is need for
parties to know their positions before the said election, it is proper
for both applications and the substantive suit bordering on
disqualification to be taken together. The court cited numerous
Supreme court and Court of Appeal decisions to buttress its point.

The court read out the provisions of Order 29 of the Federal High
Court Civil Procedure Rules, 2009 and said that it agreed with the
submissions of Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, that both the interlocutory
applications and the substantive suit must be heard together to save
time and cost.

With this ruling, the stage is now set for the hearing of the main
case to determine the issue of Buhari's academic qualifications, vis a
vis the information he gave in his Nomination form and his affidavit
verifying his forms, to the effect that his WASC qualification was
with the Secretary to the Military Board, an allegation that was
debunked by the Nigerian Military which said it was not in custody of
General Buhari's WASC certificate.

The matter was subsequently adjourned to 25th March, 2015, for ruling,
on the application by two legal practitioners, who sought to be joined
in the suit, after hearing arguments from their counsel, and Ozekhome,
SAN, Fagbemi, SAN, and Liman, SAN.
--247ureports