But ruling on the ex parte application, the judge,
The judge said having read the affidavit in support of the motion, it was more appropriate to direct the defendants to appear in court on
The court also ordered that
Mr Ozekhome filed the 'ex-parte' application on
Background
PREMIUM
The lawyer argued in the suit that no law exempted him from contesting the primary election of any political party as a sitting CBN governor.
"The plaintiff is legally competent to contest the primaries of any political parties while still serving as the Governor of the
Pressure has mounted on
In February, a PREMIUM TIMES editorial called on
He spoke after reports that a group had purchased the N100 million worth of presidential nomination and expression of interest forms of the
He said although he had yet to decide to contest the presidential election, should he heed the call to run for the presidency, he would use his "own hard-earned savings from over 35 years of banking leadership to buy my own Nomination Forms".
In his suit confirming his political ambition,
His lawyer, Mr Ozekhome, expressed fears that the INEC and the
Monday's proceedings
At the sitting on Monday, Mr Ozekhome argued that by
"The timeline for the primaries, congresses or conventions of political parties for the presidential election which the applicant is interested in, comes up on the 30th of May and
"We are not asking for an injunction, but due to the urgency of the matter, the applicant needs the protection and canopy of justice to stop the matter from being rendered nuggatory and a fait accompli foisted on the applicant, if the court does not issue an order," he said.
An affidavit of urgency in support of the exparte application stated that the Plaintiff/Applicant is the current Governor of the CBN and "desires to contest election for the office of the President in 2023.
According to Mr Ozekhome, "The applicant is in a dilemma as to whether to run for the 2023 presidential election or not, and therefore has come to court for interpretation of section 318 of the
"Being a public servant, is the applicant a political appointee that is also cut in the web of section 84(12) of the Electoral Act?
Mr Ozekhome also argued that the said section 84(12) of the Electoral Act has been struck down by Justice
"Though, the matter is on appeal,"
Mr Ozekhome argued that the constitution, which is the grand norm of the land, permits a political appointee with an ambition to contest an election to do so at least 30 days to the election.
He, therefore, urged the court to order for the maintenance of status quo, pending the determination of the motion on notice.
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