The court of appeal in Abuja, on Thursday, dismissed the judgment  nullifying the timelines issued by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the conduct of party primaries and the nomination of candidates.

In an unanimous decision, the appellate court affirmed the guidelines issued by INEC for the 2027 elections.

In the lead judgment prepared by Adebukola Banjoko but read by Okon Abang, the court of appeal ruled that the Youth Party (YP) that instituted the case against INEC lacked the legal power to do so.

The court held that the YP did not tell the court how INEC guidelines affected the party in the conduct of primary elections for the 2027 election.

The appellate court ruled that INEC acted within its legal powers to issue the election timetable and the lower court “wrongly granted” the reliefs sought by the applicant.

The court held that YP can only invoke the powers of the court if there are threats to its rights to participate in the 2027 elections.

In May, a federal high court in Abuja nullified the timelines issued by INEC for the conduct of party primaries and the nomination of candidates.

Mohammed Umar, the presiding judge, held that INEC cannot “fix or prescribe the timetable within which political parties may conduct their primary elections for the purpose of nominating candidates for the 2027 general elections”.

Umar ruled that the powers granted to INEC under sections 29, 82 and 84(1) of the Electoral Act do not extend to determining timelines for party primaries.

The judgment was delivered in a suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/517/2016, filed on March 11 by the YP, with INEC listed as the sole defendant.

The chief of staff to President Bola Tinubu, Femi Gbajabiamila, has sued Adeniyi Adeyemi, the self-styled director-general of the controversial presidential foreign intervention promotion council (PFIPC), for alleged defamation.

In the suit filed before a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) high court, Gbajabiamila is seeking N10 billion as general damages, N5 billion as aggravated damages, N200 million as the cost of the action, and an order compelling Adeyemi to publish a full retraction and apology in five national newspapers.

Recall that Gbajabiamila has earlier threatened a N10 billion defamation suit against Adeyemi over allegations of murder and bribery.

In a letter signed by Kemi Pinheiro, Gbajabimila’s counsel, Adeyemi was asked to take down all videos in which he made the allegations against the chief of staff.

Adeyemi was also asked to publish a full retraction and apology in at least five national newspapers and across all social media platforms on which a press conference he conveyed on June 26 was circulated.

The embattled Adeyemi had alleged that Gbajabiamila collected N400 million bribe through a proxy for the appointment letter into the fictitious agency, which the presidency has since disowned.

Adeyemi also linked Gbajabiamila to attempts to deploy security agencies against him and to the death of one Babatunde Tanimola, whom he described as an intermediary between himself and the chief of staff.

Gbajabiamila, in his statement of claim, denied ever meeting or communicating with Adeyemi, describing the allegations as “entirely false, baseless, malicious, reckless and wholly devoid of any factual or evidential foundation”.

“The claimant has never met the defendant, never held any meeting with him and has never authorised any intermediary, representative, agent or proxy to demand or receive money on his behalf,” the court document reads.

The suit noted that Gbajabiamila had issued a cease-and-desist letter to Adeyemi, demanding a retraction and apology within 72 hours.

Rather than retract the allegations, Gbajabiamila said Adeyemi granted an interview to Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, published on Instagram, during which he admitted he had never personally met the claimant and that his alleged communications had been conducted through Tanimola, who is now deceased.

Adeyemi also granted another interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, aired on July 13 and anchored by Seun Okinbaloye, where he maintained the substance of his earlier claims without retracting them.

Gbajabiamila is praying the court to declare that the words spoken and published by Adeyemi “are false, malicious and defamatory”.

He is seeking N10 billion in general damages and N5 billion in aggravated damages plus N200 million in costs and 10 percent interest on the judgment sum.

Gbajabiamila is also seeking an order compelling Adeyemi to publish a retraction and unconditional apology in five national newspapers within seven days of judgment, maintain the apology across all social media and electronic platforms for 30 consecutive days, remove every publication and recording containing the allegations, and a perpetual injunction restraining further publication.

The chief of staff to President Bola Tinubu, Femi Gbajabiamila, has sued Adeniyi Adeyemi, the self-styled director-general of the controversial presidential foreign intervention promotion council (PFIPC), for alleged defamation. 

In the suit filed before a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) high court, Gbajabiamila is seeking N10 billion as general damages, N5 billion as aggravated damages, N200 million as the cost of the action, and an order compelling Adeyemi to publish a full retraction and apology in five national newspapers.

Details later…