Court Strikes Out Suit On Buhari’s WAEC Certificate After Lawyer Withdraws Suit

A Federal High Court in Abuja has struck out the suit against  President Muhammadu Buhari  filed by an Abuja based lawyer Mr Nnamdi  Nkwocha –Ahaaiwe  challenging the president  failure to present his West African Examination Certificate to prove he sat for the examination in 1961 which the president sworn an oat of affidavit to have sat for and that the Certificate is with the Military in the form he filled with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) during the screening for the presidential nomination form in 2014.

Justice Adeniyi Ademola who presided over the case today struck out the case on the ground that the applicant in the suit Monday’s motion for discontinuance filed by Mr. Nnamdi Nkwocha Ahaaiwe.  The judge who had on 16^th June adjourned the case indefinitely following a notice of appeal filed by president Buhari challenging a ruling of the court dismissing the president preliminary objection.

Applicant to the suit Mr Nnamdi did not give any reason for withdrawing the suit at the federal high court it was however believed the lawyer must have decided to withdraw from the following several threats and  verbal attacks from the Special assistant to the president on media Mallam Shehu Garba and incessant threats on his life family and friends. In a recent interview Mr Nnamdi granted a newspaper earlier in the month, he was quoted to have said there were subtle threats on him to drop the case against the president from Court. He also said if anything happens to him even if its disguised as an accident or anything Nigerians will know exactly who is responsible.

Although the president legal team was not present at the court hearing in which the presiding judge struck out the case. The president has engaged the services of  13 lawyers who are senior advocate of Ngeria SAN and is led by legal icon Chief Wole Olanipekun(SAN). Others are Mr Lateef O. Fagbemi(SAN), Chief Akin Olujinmi(SAN), Roitimi Akeredolu(SAN) , Kola Awodehin(SAN), Prof. Taiwo Osipitan(SAN),  Emeka Ngige(SAN) , Charles Edosomwan(SAN) ,  Femi Atoyebi(SAN),   Femi Falana(SAN),   Funke Aboyade(SAN),   Muiz Banire(SAN)  , H.O. Afolabi (SAN)  and Ten other lawyers were on the president  defence team.

Recall that Mr Nnamdi Nkwocha Ahaaiwe took the person of the president to court last year over his inability to present his certificate. He believe that the president did not sit for  the Cambridge West African Examination Council  WAEC the basic educational qualification for a presidential candidate in which the president claimed he sat for and could not produce the certificate because it was collected from him by the Nigerian Army. The Army had then issued a statement denying being in possession of the retired general and former head of state during the build up to the presidential elections in 2015.