In Abuja, a Federal High Court has rejected signing Form 48, which was filed against INEC and some of its top officials.
This was stated in a letter written by the Principal Registrar 1 Shehu Suleiman and signed by the Honorable Judge, Chamber, Justice E. Enenche.
Chief Uzewuru Nwachukwu vs. Kenneth Udeze, Action Alliance (AA), Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Form 48 S.C.P.A. (ORDER IX, RULE 13) was the title of the letter, which was dated 8 August 2023 and had the case number FCT/HC/CV/174/2022.
The letter reads,
“Notice of consequences of disobedience to order of court filed on the 3rd day of August 2023 and signed on the 7th day of August 2023.
“I am directed by his Lordship to inform your Authority that the above form was not signed by the registrar of this Court or emanated thereof from this Court.
“And note also that no request, letter, or order in respect of this suit with appeal No. Ca/AbJ/526/2022 shall be treated as authentic except from the order of the court of appeal or otherwise by the registrar of this court. (After the decision before the court of appeal therein).”
According to Platinum Times Nigeria, Kenneth Udeze, a factional leader of the AA, once displayed an allegedly signed court order and threatened to file a lawsuit against the INEC if the commission disobeyed the ruling.
He had claimed that in order to get Form 48 against INEC and its chairman, Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu, he had gone to the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
He also entered the FCT/HC/CV/174/2022 lawsuit alongside the INEC directors Mr. Aminu Idris, in charge of political party monitoring and liaison, and Dr. Tanimu Mohammed, in charge of litigation and prosecution.
The Form 48 Udeze possessed, which the FCT Court has denied signing, states, “Take notice that unless you obey the directions contained in this order, you will be guilty of contempt of court and will be liable to be committed to prison for contempt of court.”
The National Think Thank Committee later dismissed Udeze from the party for a number of reasons after he had been suspended for claiming to be the national chairman of the Action Alliance (AA).
Dr. Adekunle Rufai Omoaje was recently acknowledged by INEC as the legitimate national chairperson of the Action Alliance.