Court rejects offer to stay Tinubu's certificate infringement suit against APC presidential candidate.

A Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday rejected an offer by a factional group of the Action Alliance (AA) party to terminate the certificate infringement suit brought against the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress ( APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Offer by the group loyal to Tinubu and led by Adekunle Rufai Omo-Aje has been rejected by the Federal High Court to be joined as an interested party to defend Tinubu in the certificate infringement action brought against it by the AA party.< /p>

Judge Obiora Egwuatu, in a decision on the request for joinder of Omo-Aje and his faction, dismissed the request on the grounds that the prerequisites for granting such joinder had not been met. placed in court.

Among other things, Judge Egwuatu found that Omo-Aje had not established his claim as the AA's national president, nor had he disclosed how his interests would be compromised if he did not was not joined as a defendant in the lawsuit.

Judge Egwuatu, while denying the joinder request, found that the group remains a prying and nosy trespasser until their potentially affected interests are clear.

In the ruling, Judge Egwuatu said that Adekunle Rufai Omo-Aje and Ambassador Suleiman Abdumalik, who filed the joinder request on behalf of their faction, failed to meet the conditions for which they should be joined.

Furthermore, the judge found that they also failed to plead in any form, to convince the court to join them.

The factional group had in the joinder petition requested the dismissal of the lawsuit against APC and Tinubu on the grounds that they (as party leaders) had not authorized the lawsuit to be filed in the name of or for the party account .

The judge then ordered the plaintiff (AA) to open his case of false certificate allegations against Tinubu on Friday, November 4, 2022.

Judge Egwuatu expressly ordered that the witnesses in the lawsuit be brought before the court to enable him to rule on the lawsuit within the statutory time limit.

The Action Alliance party in the lawsuit seeks Tinubu's disqualification from the 2023 elections for alleged certificate forgery.

The party had asked the court on June 21 to prevent the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from including the name of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the ballot for the 2023 presidential election.

The party in the writ of summons marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/954/2022, based its request on the claim that the APC and its presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, are unqualified to participate in the presidential election of 2023 the alleged forgery committed by Tinubu in 1999.

The lawsuit filed on behalf of the plaintiff by his attorney, Mr. Upkai Ukairo, alleged that Tinubu forged the University of Chicago certificate he submitted in 1999 to qualify for the election of Governor of 1999 in Lagos State, won by Tinubu.

The complaint, dated and filed on June 21, has the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) All Progressives Congress (APC) and Senator Bola Tinubu as 1st, 2nd and 3rd defendants respectively.