by Ranti Joseph

Another suit seeking the disqualification of the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Mohammadu Buhari has been filed before a Federal High Court, Abuja, on Wednesday, February 4.

This makes it the third suit filed to seek an order declaring Buhari ineligible to contest the February 14 election.

Apart from the disqualification suit, there is a pending direct criminal complaint against Buhari before a Federal Capital Territory Magistrate’s Court in Abuja asking the court to direct that the former Head of State be brought to book for allegedly claiming on oath that he had a certificate he did not obtain.

Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court in Abuja has already fixed February 9 for hearing in the two previous suits.

The judge had separately on Monday and Tuesday ordered service of court papers through publication newspapers in the two suits. The fresh suit, which is the third seeking Buhari’s disqualification was filed by Ayakeme Whiskey on Tuesday, February 3.

INEC and Buhari are the two defendants in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS68/2015. Like the plaintiffs in the two previous suits, Whiskey anchored his suit on the same grounds of alleged failure of Buhari to accompany his Form CF001 submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission with his certificates of academic qualifications.

He argued that failure of Buhari to do so had rendered him ineligible to participate in the poll as he failed to comply with provisions of sections 131 and 318 of the 1999 Constitution and section 31(3) of the Electoral Act, 2010.

His supporting affidavit read in part, “That the documents submitted 2nd defendant did not show evidence of school certificate, whether first or secondary. “That by not providing and attaching his certificates as required, the 2nd defendant has left the question of his qualification for the election to conjecture. There is no way to know whether or not the 2nd defendant has the requisite educational qualification necessary to contest the position of President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

Max Ozoaka filed one of the two earlier suits numbered FHC/ABJ/ CS/14/2015. Chukwunweike Okafor filed the other with number FHC/ABJ/CS/01/2015. The fresh suit by Whiskey has not been assigned to a judge and no date has been fixed for the hearing.