Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State has won the first appeal delivered by the Court of Appeal in Abuja with respect to the judgments of the Federal High Court in Abuja June 27 removing him from office.
Ikpeazu’s appeal was with respect to the ruling delivered by Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court in Abuja on July 8 in which the judge insisted that he had jurisdiction to hear a motion for stay of execution of his earlier judgments delivered on June 27 even after the appeals against the judgments had been entered.
The Justice Helen Ogunwumiju-led five-man bench unanimously agreed in their judgment that Justice Abang erroneously assumed jurisdiction to hear the motion and adjourned it till a later date. Justice Philomina Ekpe, who read the lead judgment, held that what Justice Abang ought to have done in line with time-honoured doctrine of “stari decisis” was to have transferred the motion to the Court of Appeal for determination.
She also held that the Justice Abang wrongly interpreted the provisions of Order 4(10) and (11) of the Court of Appeal rules when he held that the said provisions were only applicable to an interlocutory ruling of the lower court and when a final judgment in a suit had been delivered.
She also held that Justice Abang lacked jurisdictions to interpret the provisions of the Court of Appeal being the rules of a superior court. In her contribution, Justice Ogunwumiju, held that the trial judge “deliberately stood the law on its head” by justifying his jurisdiction to hear the motion when appeal has been entered. One appeal has been ruled in favour of Ikpeazu, 3 more to go......More updates to come...
The Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal has dismissed the second appeal arising from two judgments of the Federal High Court, Abuja which on June 27 removed Okezie Ikpeazu as Governor of Abia State. The appeal dismissed by the appeal court on Thursday was filed by a governorship aspirant in Abia State, Mr. Friday Nwosu, who participated in the Peoples Democratic Party’s December 8, 2014 primary which was won by Ikpeazu and in which Uche Ogah ended as first runner up.
He contended in his appeal that he be declared the validly elected Governor of Abia State on the basis that the Federal High Court had rightly removed Ikpeazu, and that Ogah who was ordered to be sworn in as Governor, had earlier rejected and repudiated the outcome of the primary. The Justice Helen Ogunwumiju-led five-man panel of the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal for lacking in merit.
Justice Tanko Hussaini, who held that though the appellant had locus standi to appeal against the judgment of the Federal High Court, his contention that Ogah could not be a beneficiary of the PDP’s primary held on December 8, 2014 having “rejected and repudiated” its outcome had no legal basis.
Justice Hussaini held that the appellant misapplied the decided authorities on doctrine of waiver and estoppel upon which his (appelllant’s) appeal was predicated.
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