- Umeoji rejects judgement…
- National Publicity Secretary of Okeke led faction states they are heading for the apex court…
The Anambra State Government has commended the Court of Appeal sitting in Kano for setting aside the controversial judgment of the Jigawa State High Court at Birnin Kudu of June 30 recognizing Jude Okeke as the National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).
In a judgment delivered on Tuesday, the Court of Appeal unanimously recognized Chief Victor Oye as the party’s national chairman and consequently affirmed the former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Professor Chukwuma Charles Soludo, as the APGA candidate in the November 6 gubernatorial election in the state.
The Commissioner For Information and Public Enlightenment, C Don Adinuba said the judgement shows hope in the Nigerian judiciary as the temple of justice for all citizens have been rekindled with the sound judgment.
He said that there is massive rejoicing all over the state since the news of the judgment filtered into the state, showing that the judgment synchronizes with the expectations, wishes and sentiments of millions of the people.
Adinuba noted that Anambra people have all along been expecting a unanimous judgment in favour of APGA, especially since last Wednesday when the APGA and Oye team of lawyers led by Wole Olanipekun, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), and Patrick Ikwueto, another SAN election petition expert, addressed the court.
Adinuba also said that the Anambra State Government also praised the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), particularly its Section on Public Interest and Development Law (SPIDEL) led by Dr Monday Ubani, for openly criticizing Justice Ubale and Okeke’s lawyers for gross professional misconduct, saying that the NBA leadership is alive to it’s social responsibility.
Governor Willie Obiano has described the Court of Appeal judgment as victory for the APGA family and he also said there are no victors and there are no vanquished in this case as far as our great party is concerned.
Chief Obiano, who is also APGA National Leader and Chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees, said, APGA is going into the election as a people’s movement, and this will see them win all 21 local government areas of the state as they did in 2017.
Gov Obiano also commended the Senator Victor Umeh Reconciliation Committee which has been doing a fantastic job.
Umeoji rejects judgement:
Meanwhile, the parallel National Chairman of the APGA, and the factional Governorship candidate, Chukwuma Umeoji have rejected the judgment of the Court of Appeal Kano which recognized Victor Ike and Oye as the authentic National Chairman of the party.
The Appeal Court in Kano, yesterday, nullified the judgment of a Jigawa State High Court presided by Justice Musa Ubale which had earlier sacked Oye as APGA National Chairman, saying the Jigawa State High Court lacked jurisdiction to adjudicate the matter.
The Special Panel of the court led by Justice Haruna Tsammani held that Justice Ubale of Birkin Kudu Division of Jigawa State High Court was biased in the manner the case was handled having contravened section 36 of the 1999 Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria for not granting Oye fair hearing before a Court or Tribunal and lacking jurisdiction to adjudicate the matter.
Justice Tsammani who led two other judges, Maiwada Abdullahi and Usman Musale, in the unanimous judgment, declared Okeke and his group are meddlesome interlopers, and, ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, not to recognize Okeke’s purported faction for being a product of rascality of politicians.
The three-man Panel agreed with the appellant’s counsel, Wole Olanipekun, that APGA national leadership matter is not a pre-election matter because a matter cannot become a pre-election matter at the Court of Appeal that was not a pre-election matter and filed within 14 days at the lower court.
The Panel equally punctured Okeke’s argument that Oye’s tenure had elapsed, clarifying that the alleged APGA Convention that produced him was held in 2019, but not 2021, declaring that a time frame doesn’t apply.
Reacting to the judgement, the former National Chairman of APGA, and one-time Senator representing Anambra Central, Victor Umeh described the Court of Appeal judgment as landmark, revealing that the attempt to stop Oye was targeted at the authentic candidate of APGA in the November 6, 2021 Governorship election, Professor Chukwuma Soludo.
He advised Okeke and Umeoji to forget the move to go to the Supreme Court, stressing that it may not derail and distract APGA from forging ahead with Soludo’s campaign to succeed Obiano as Governor come 2022.
Umeh urged INEC to publish Soludo’s name as the candidate of APGA,adding that there is nothing more that can sustain the life of any of their future suits with the latest disbandment of the Okeke-led faction.
National Publicity Secretary of Okeke led faction states they are heading for the apex court:
The court battle however, seems not to be over for APGA as in disregard to the appeal of stakeholders in the All Progressives Grand Alliance party not to continue the legal tussle, the National Publicity Secretary of the Okeke led faction in APGA , Ikechukwu Chukwunye has stated that Okeke and Umeoji are heading for the apex court.
Chukwunye, in a statement, a copy of which was made available to Newsmen,
disclosed that lawyers to Okeke had instructed that all necessary steps be taken to appeal the judgment at the Supreme Court.
The statement read that the Hon. Chukwuma Umeoji campaign will continue unhindered pending the judgment of the Supreme Court where victory is assured. The group urged all supporters and party members are to remain peaceful and law-abiding while maintaining the confidence level as there is nothing that can stop an idea whose time has come.
According to the statement, the campaign organization insists that from the reports from the legal team, the Special Panel of the Court of Appeal turned law upside down by sitting on appeal over its earlier ruling and setting that ruling aside without consequential justice.
The statement noted that the Supreme Court will gladly remind the Court of Appeal that consistency in its ruling is one of the core pillars of the judicial system and that a Court cannot sit on appeal over itself nor arbitrarily overrule itself.
They expressed confidence that the Supreme Court being the highest in the land will indeed have an opportunity to do substantial justice and restore the ticket of Hon. Chukwuma Umeoji as the APGA Governorship candidate and High Chief Jude Okeke as the National Chairman of the Party.
