President Goodluck Jonathan and Vice President Namadi Sambo have asked an Abuja High Court to dismiss the suit filed by Mr. Mase Daphine Acho and two others, challenging their eligibility to contest the 2015 presidential election.
In a notice of preliminary objection, the president and his deputy held that the court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the suit.
According to the notice of preliminary objection filed by the legal team of the first and second defendants, led by Mr. Ade Okeaya-Inneh and Dr Fabian Ajogwu, the duo said the plaintiffs lacked the requisite standing in law to institute the action, adding also that they failed to disclose any sufficient interest to warrant a claim in public or private law.
The defence team sought to prove that the plaintiffs/respondents had not disclosed any sufficient interest to warrant a claim in public or private law.
It relied on Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution, which rules out civil or criminal proceedings against the president, the vice president, governor of a state and the deputy governor while they remain in office.
In their written address, the president and his deputy contended that the plaintiff/respondents had, on the processes filed, not shown any private law nexus with the defendants with regard to the cause of action.
They averred that “the question, therefore, is whether or not the plaintiff/respondents satisfied the test of locus standi in public law, as laid by the courts, in order to be able to maintain this action.”
