File: Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Atiku Abubakar.
The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Atiku Abubakar, on Thursday hailed the Federal High Court in Abuja for striking out a suit challenging the leadership of the party, describing the decision as a victory for constitutional democracy and a rejection of attempts to use the judiciary for political ends.
Reacting to the judgment delivered by Justice Musa Liman, Atiku said the ruling reaffirmed the long-established principle that issues relating to the internal affairs of political parties are primarily governed by their constitutions and internal dispute resolution mechanisms.
In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said the court deserved commendation for resisting what he described as efforts to drag the judiciary into partisan political battles.
“The court could not have been clearer. It rightly held that the matter borders on the internal affairs of the ADC, that the Federal High Court lacks jurisdiction, and that the plaintiffs neither exhausted the internal remedies provided by the party’s constitution nor established the locus standi required to invoke the jurisdiction of the court.
