The Supreme Court of Nigeria has on Friday struck out a suit filed by President Muhammad Buhari and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami (SAN).
The suit struck out by the Apex court was challenging Section 84(12) of the Electoral Act.
Musa Dattijo-Muhammad, who led a seven-member panel of justices of the apex court, unanimously struck out the suit for being an abuse of court process.
Delivering the lead judgement, Justice Aokmaye Agim, held that Buhari, having earlier assented to Section 84 (12) of the Electoral Act 2022, cannot turn around to approach the court to strike it down.
According to the judgement, “There is no provision in the constitution that vests the president the power to challenge the constitutionality or desirability of a legislation after he has assented or denied his assent” and added that, the president has given his assent to the Act.
He added that the request by Buhari to the National Assembly to delete the provision amounted to constitutional violation and held that the suit was a ploy by the President to get the court to validate the violation.