Kaduna central: Court dismisses suit against Lawal Usman’s candidature as PDP flagbearer

A federal high court in Abuja has dismissed a suit seeking to invalidate the nomination of Lawal Usman as senatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for Kaduna central.

In the judgment delivered in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/333/23 on Wednesday, James Omotosho, the presiding judge, held that the case filed by Ibrahim Usman, an aggrieved aspirant, was an abuse of court process.

Omotosho agreed with the defence that the subject matter of the instant suit was similar to another one filed by the plaintiff before a federal high court in Kaduna.

The judge noted that the case had been decided by the supreme court.

He said “the doctrine of stare decisis” does not permit a lower court to review the verdict of a superior court.

The judge added that the suit was a deliberate attempt to turn the decision of the court over its head and to go into judicial rascality.

“This suit ought to be thrown into the dustbin,” the judge said. 

“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.”

Lawal won the PDP primaries conducted on May 23, 2022.

However, the Kaduna federal high court nullified the primary election and ordered a rerun.

The party organised another primary poll on November 7, 2022, which produced Ibrahim as its senatorial candidate.

But the court of appeal in Kaduna on December 19, nullified the judgment of the trial court which ordered a fresh election.

Similarly, the apex court affirmed the verdict of the appellate court.

Meanwhile, Lawal won the senatorial election, with 225,066 votes to beat Muhammad  Abdullahi, better known as Dattijo of the All Progressives Congress (APC).