A Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a suit challenging the nomination of Senator Lawal Adamu Usman for the Kaduna State Central senatorial election on February 25, 2023.
A Federal High Court in Kaduna had nullified the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) primary conducted on May 23, 2022, which produced Usman, popularly known as Mr LA, as the PDP candidate, and ordered a fresh poll.
The party had organised another primary on November 7 which produced the plaintiff Ibrahim Usman as its candidate.
But an Appeal Court, in the appeal marked: CA/K/257/22 filed by Senator Usman, on December 19, 2022, set aside the judgment of the trial court that ordered for the November 7, 2022, primary election.
The Supreme Court, also in its judgment on February 17 on appeal number: SC/CV/1691/2022 filed by the plaintiff, affirmed the judgment of the Court of Appeal.
However, the plaintiff, unsatisfied with the decision, sued the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Lawal Usman, and the PDP as first to third defendants respectively before Justice Omotosho of the FHC, Abuja.
But in his judgment on Wednesday, Justice James Omotosho held that the suit, filed by Mr. Ibrahim Usman, an aspirant in the party’s primary held on May 23, 2022, was an abuse of the court process.
He held that the matter, having been decided by an Appeal Court and subsequently affirmed by the Supreme Court, lacked merit.
The judge said though the plaintiff’s suit, marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/333/23, was not statute-barred, having been filed within the 14 days prescribed by the law, adding that it was against the doctrine of stare decisis for a lower court to review the decision of a superior court.
Omotosho said, “This suit ought to be thrown into the dustbin. The matter has already been decided and cannot be reinstituted. The plaintiff is bound to obey the decision of the Supreme Court as you cannot put something on nothing and expect it to stand.
“No matter how incorrect a judgment of a higher court might be, it cannot be reviewed by a lower court.”
