A Court of Appeal in Abuja has set aside the judgment of the Federal High Court in Umuahia which voided the provision of Section 84(12) of the Electoral Act 2022.

In a judgment on Wednesday, a three-member panel of the court headed by Justice Hamma Akawu Barka held that the Federal High Court Umuahia had no jurisdiction to have entertained the case because the plaintiff, Nduka Edede, lacked the locus standi to have filed the suit in the first place.

The appellate court added that the plaintiff did not establish any cause of action to have warranted his approaching the court on the issue because he did not establish that he was directly affected by the provision. The Court of Appeal thereafter struck out the suit marked: FHC/UM/CS/26/2022 which Edede filed before the Umuahia court.

But while determining the appeal on the merit, the appellate court held that  section 84(12) of the Electoral Act is unconstitutional because it violates Section 42(1)(a) of the constitution and denied a class of Nigerian citizens their right to participate in election.

The judgement was on the appeal marked: CA/OW/87/2022 filed by the PDP.