Supreme Court dismisses PDP suit seeking to prevent the swearing-in of Tinubu and Shettima

MONDAY'S planned swearing-in of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Senator Kashim Shettima will now proceed as normal after the Supreme Court dismissed a suit buy the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) seeking to get their election annulled.

On May 27, Asiwaju Tinubu and his deputy Senator Kashim Shettima will be sworn-in at an inauguration event to take place in Abuja. It will be attended by foreign heads of state and government as well as past presidents, diplomats, heads of international organisations, prominent Nigerians and representatives of global agencies.

There are several legal challenges to the February 25 election still in court as the PDP and Labour Party both refused to accept the result or concede defeat. In this suit that was ruled upon today, the PDP had sought to get the elections annulled on the basis that Senator Shettima was nominated for both vice president and the senate.

However, the Supreme Court dismissed the suit saying the attempt to disqualify Asiwaju Tinubu and Senator Shettima was grossly lacking in merit. Justice Adamu Jauro who delivered the lead judgment, then asked the PDP to pay N2m in costs, accusing it of pokenosing in the internal affairs of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the conduct of its primaries and the nomination of its candidates.

Justice Jauro agreed with Asiwaju Tinubu’s lawyer, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, that the PDP acted as busy body and meddlesome interloper in the way and manner it dabbled into APC’s affairs unjustly. Also, the court held that apart from the fact that PDP lacked requisite jurisdiction to institute the suit, the party also failed to provide scintilla of evidence that Senator Shettima engaged in double nomination.

Also, it was adjudged that the claim of PDP on the alleged double nomination was most unfortunate and a clear act of deliberate mischief to mislead the court and the country. In its ruling, the Supreme Court also agreed with Mr Fagbemi that no matter the pains of the PDP on how the APC conducted its primary election and nominated its candidates, as an opposition party, it must remain an onlooker.

“It is abundantly clear that the Appellant (PDP) in the totality of its position in the instant case, is peeping and poke nosing into the affairs of another party as a busy body and meddlesome interloper,” Justice Jauro  said.

Also, the court held that the action of PDP was painful because it used the social media to set a booby trap for the Supreme Court to blackmail it. It said this is most unfortunate, unwarranted and uncalled for.