Justice Peter Kekemeke of an Abuja High Court on Thursday struck out former boxer Bash Ali’s suit for being “statute barred.”
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Mr Ali instituted the suit against a former Sports Minister Sunday Dare, the National Sports Commission and the Attorney General of the Federation.
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Delivering a ruling on the preliminary objection by the defendant in the suit, Mr Kekemeke held that the case was no longer valid because the time limit for bringing it to court had passed, as defined by a statute of limitations.
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“From the piece of evidence before the court, there is none pointing out that the first defendant signed a contract. The suit was filed on October 10, 2021, three months before the claimant’s counter affidavit; his case did not fall into the expectation known in law, and the cause of the act accrued on May 20, 2020, is statute barred.
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”The notice of preliminary objection succeeds; the case is consequently struck out,” Mr Kekemeke said.
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Mr Ali in his suit prayed the court for an order declaring that withdrawal of support given to him was illegal.
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He prayed for an order of the court directing the first defendant to retract the defamatory matter published against him.
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Mr Ali further asked the court for an order of the court directing the first defendant to resume their support.
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He also asked for N500 billion for loss of income, among other demands.
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The defendants in the case are Sunday Dare, then Minister of Youth and Sports Development; the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development; and the Attorney General of the Federation.

(NAN)