Suspense as suit to disqualify Buhari holds today.

Suspense was in the camp of the APC on Tuesday as a Federal High Court
in Abuja set today for further hearing in one of the suits challenging
the eligibility of the presidential candidate of the APC, Maj. Gen.
Muhammadu Buhari(retd.), to contest in Saturday's presidential
election.
Justice Adeniyi Ademola is to rule on fresh applications by intended
parties seeking to join the suits as defendants.
The judge fixed Wednesday (today) for the ruling after hearing the
intended parties' applications on Tuesday.
Those whose applications for joining the suit as defendants were heard
on Tuesday are Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, Chukwuma Ochu, Sunusi Musa, Ahmed
Maitarki and the Fiscal and Civil Rights Enlightenment Foundation.
The suit was filed on January 26, 2015 by a lawyer, Chukwunweike
Okafor, asking the court to declare Buhari ineligible to contest the
presidential election slated for Saturday over his (Buhari's) alleged
failure to submit his school certificate along with his Form CF001 to
INEC.
The Plaintiff's counsel, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), had in his
objection to the applications of the intended defendants, described
the applicants as interlopers.
The existing defendants in the suit are the Independent National
Electoral Commission, Buhari and the APC.
Earlier on Tuesday, the judge ruled that he would hear both the main
suit and Buhari's preliminary applications challenging the court's
jurisdiction together.
The plaintiff, through his counsel, Ozekhome, insisted that both the
main suit and the preliminary applications should be heard together.
But Buhari and the APC had urged the court to hear and determine their
preliminary applications which bordered on the court's jurisdiction
first before entertaining the main suit.
The court agreed with the plaintiff and ruled that he would entertain
the preliminary applications and the main suit together.
But when the suit will be heard depends on the outcome of the court's
ruling on the applications of intended parties in the suit.
Buhari and the APC had challenged the mode of service of the
plaintiff's originating summons on them, insisting that the issue
bordered on the jurisdiction of the court.
A SAN by the name Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), who is representing
Buhari and Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), counsel for the APC, had while
opposing the plaintiff's prayer to quickly hear the suit, argued that
there was no law stipulating that pre-election cases must be heard
before the conduct of the elections.
Its has been confirmed that there are about 10 suits instituted
against Buhari's eligibility to participate in the presidential
election.
The plaintiff argued that failure of Buhari to submit his school
certificate to INEC contravened provisions of sections 131 and 318
of the 1999 Constitution and section 31(3) of the Electoral Act, 2010.
The party APC warns against disqualifying Buhari
Before the court's sitting, the APC warned against any orchestrated
and last-minute disqualification of Buhari in order to pave the way
for an easy victory for President Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples
Democratic Party.
The APC, through a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Lai
Mohammed, also cautioned against another postponement of the
elections.
It said, 'If it is true, as it is being widely speculated across the
country, that the Jonathan administration has procured a judgment to
disqualify the APC presidential candidate on Wednesday(today), when
the Federal High Court in Abuja is expected to rule on the issue, then
it portends a great danger for the nation."
The party said in addition to other reasons, the six-week postponement
of the elections might have been used by those who never wanted the
polls to hold to shop for such a "satanic judgment."
The statement partly read, ''Anyone who will disqualify a presidential
candidate on the eve of an election can only have one and only one
purpose for that: to trigger chaos and pandemonium across the country.
"Perhaps, this is the reason for the deployment of troops across the
country to crack down on possible protests and create confusion.
''Then, those who orchestrated the disqualification will simply use
what they expect to be angry reactions nationwide as an excuse to
postpone the elections again, thus triggering a constitutional crisis,
the end of which no one can predict.
''It the main reason why we are hoping that good reason will prevail
and nothing will be done, deliberately, to plunge Nigeria into crisis
by the same people who have always been quick to say their political
ambition is not worth the blood of any Nigerian.''
When contacted, Abdullahi Jalo , said, "By now, Nigerians have become
accustomed to the antics of the opposition. I don't think anybody
takes them seriously any more."
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