The ex parte order issued on Tuesday followed a suit filed at the court by the presidential candidate of the National Rescue Movement, Mr. Usman Ibrahim.
Mr. Ibrahim wants the court to nullify the participation of both candidates in the February 23, 2019, presidential poll, because, they spent more money than provided for by the Electoral Act during their campaigns.
The counsel to the plaintiff, Mr. Ezekiel Ofou, urged the court to invoke section 91(2) of the Electoral Act, 2010 to nullify the participation of the candidates in the poll for allegedly violating the electoral laws.
“We want the court to make an interpretation of section 91, sub-section 2 of the Electoral Act.
“That where someone who is contesting for the position of the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria exceeds the statutory limit of expenditure, what is the mind of the court towards that? That is why we are here,” he said.
He claimed that by spending more than one billion naira each, both the APC and PDP candidates had violated the electoral law and were liable to be removed as contestants in the election.
The report by Nigeria’s Channels Television said that at the hearing of the case on Tuesday, the plaintiff’s counsel prayed the court for an order of substituted service because he was unable to serve both the President and the Atiku Abubakar.
It added that Justice Ahmed Mohammed, however, granted the request and adjourned further mentioning of the case to March 26, 2019.