The Court of Appeal, Abuja, on Friday, dismissed an appeal filed by a former Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba, challenging the nomination of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate in Saturday’s election.

Nwajiuba had in a suit filed at the Federal High Court, Abuja, last year urged the court to restrain the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from accepting Tinubu as the APC presidential candidate on the grounds that he was nominated in breach of the law.

But in a ruling delivered on December 24, 2022, Justice Zainab Abubakar dismissed the ex-minister’s suit for being statute barred.

Dissatisfied by the ruling, Nwajiuba approached the appellate court to set it aside

At Friday’s proceeding, a three-member panel of the appeal court dismissed the suit for lack of merit.

The appeal court upheld the judgement of the lower court that it lacked jurisdiction to entertain the suit filed outside the 14 days allowed by the Electoral Act.

The court also awarded a cost of N3 million against the former minister.

Nwajiuba was expected to pay a sum of N1 million each to Tinubu, APC, and INEC.