Peter Obi Tables Fresh Request Before Court Over PDP’s Suit To Disqualify Him

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has asked a Federal High Court in Abuja to dismiss the suit by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) seeking his disqualification for nominating Doyin Okupe as his placeholder.

Recall that the PDP had dragged Peter Obi to court over his decision to replace Okupe with Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed as his running mate for the 2023 election.

The PDP had asked to bar the LP presidential candidate from replacing Okupe and also prevent the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, from replacing Kabiru Masari as his running mate.

Responding to the originating motion, counsel to Obi and Okupe, Alex Ejesieme (SAN), prayed the court to dismiss the suit of the PDP on four grounds.

Ejesieme argued that the PDP’s suit is speculative, conjectural, and devoid of hard facts.

He said: “The plaintiff has not disclosed any reasonable cause of action to activate the jurisdiction of this court. The subject matter of the plaintiff’s suit is not situated within the jurisdictional confines of the Federal High Court. The plaintiff’s suit is a gross abuse of court process.”

The PDP had earlier stated that the term ‘placeholder’ is unknown to the Electoral Act, accusing Okupe of publicly admitting that he was a mere placeholder.

Responding, Ejesieme said, “Assuming it is established that the 3rd (Tinubu) and 6th (Obi) defendants did indeed make media publications indicating the alleged placeholder status of the 4th (Kabiru Madari) and 7th (Okupe) defendants, does that in its own right constitute a wrongdoing sufficient to activate the cause of action on the plaintiff?

“Is the conduct of the elections for which the defendants are to contest in, bound by the statements made in the media? Obviously not, my lord.”