On Thursday, a Federal High Court in Abuja confirmed Liman Isa Kantigi as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the upcoming governorship elections in Niger state.
The PDP, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and Liman Isa Kantigi are named as the first, second, and third defendants in the lawsuit with the filing number FHC/ABJ/CS/804.
The plaintiff had filed a complaint with the court arguing that the first defendant should not have permitted the third to vote in the primary due to the submission of fictitious documents.
The trial Judge, Justice Zainab Abubarkar in judgement, dismissed the suit brought by the plaintiff for not being properly constituted and for lacking in the cause of action.
The court also held that the matter, being a pre-election matter the cause of action was expected to crystallise 14 days after the action and that the suit was filed before the conduct of the primaries.
Justice Zainab held that since the plaintiff had no cause of action in the suit, the jurisdiction of the court cannot be activated when the cause of action is not crystalised.
The court also held that the court would have assumed jurisdiction if the plaintiff was challenging the actual conduct of the election.
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