The federal high court in Abuja has struck out the suit filed by Rotimi Amaechi, former governor of Rivers state, to challenge the victory of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar in the presidential primary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
Joyce Abdulmalik, the presiding judge, on Friday, struck out the suit after Jibrin Okutepa, counsel to Amaechi, moved a motion of withdrawal.
According to NAN, Okutepa told the court that parties in the suit had settled their differences.
In May, Atiku won ADC presidential primary after he polled 1,846,370 votes to defeat Amaechi, who got 504,117 votes.
Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, former managing director of the defunct FSB International Bank, came third with 177,120 votes.
Prior to the announcement of the final results, Amaechi rejected the party’s presidential primary results.
Amaechi alleged widespread voter disenfranchisement and electoral malpractice during the process, adding that the results were being “concocted”.
Displeased with the outcome of the election, Amaechi approached the court.
In the suit, the former governor alleged that the election was conducted in breach of section 77(5) and (6) of the Electoral Act, 2026, ADC constitution, and sections 2, 2.1 and 2.2 of ADC’s guidelines for the conduct of primary elections for the nomination of candidates for the 2027 elections.
Amaechi sought an order restraining Atiku from parading himself or presenting himself for election as the presidential candidate of ADC at the 2027 elections.
The former governor also sought an order restraining the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from recognising Atiku as the presidential candidate of ADC.
In June, ADC named Amaechi as the running mate to Atiku for the 2027 presidential elections.
