Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
A Federal High Court sitting in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, has struck out a suit filed by the Minister of Communications, Mr. Adebayo Shittu, against the All Progressives Congress (APC) over issues with his non participation in the mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) after he graduated from Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, where he studied law.
The National Working Committee (NWC) of APC had, prior to the 2019 governorship primary of the party in Oyo State, screened out Shittu from eligible governorship aspirants presented for the primary held at the main bowl of Lekan Salami Sports Complex, Adamasingba, Ibadan, last year for failure to present his NYSC certificate.
Delivering the judgment, Justice P.I. Ajoku, held that Shittu did not file the case within the time stipulated by law, saying: “I must first consider the provision of Section 285 of the constitution that makes it mandatory for all pre-election matters to be filed within 14 days of occurrence. This particular case was not filed within 14 days, but outside the date. Therefore, I will not bother going into the merit of the case. Having failed to satisfy the dictates of the constitution, the matter is hereby struck out.”