Abia: Ikechi scales another legal hurdle, floors Ogah at Appeal Court
From BONIFACE OKORO, Umuahia
Abia State Governorship Candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), High Chief Ikechi Emenike, has scaled another legal hurdle as the Court of Appeal, Owerri Division, on Tuesday, July 19, 2022, struck out a suit filed against him by the immediate past Minister of Mines and Steal, Dr. Uchechukwu Sampson Ogah.
The appeal Court sitting in Owerri, in a unanimous ruling, while striking out a motion for leave to appeal as an interested party, filed by Dr Uche Ogah to challenge a lower court court judgment in favour of High Chief Ikechi Emenike, held that the plaintiff did not come to the Court with clean hands.
An Abia State High Court, on June 24, 2022, delivered judgement in suit Number HUM-31-2022, which High Chief Ikechi Emenike brought against APC and 2 others, in favour of High Chief Ikechi Emenike.
Recall that High chief IKechi Emenike approached the Abia State High Court in the aforesaid suit for the determination of whether himself, having emerged as the candidate of APC in the primary election conducted by the party on May 26, 2022, the party can refuse to submit his name to INEC as the candidate of the party; and whether INEC upon the party submitting or uploading his name in her portal can decline to publish his name as the candidate of APC for the 2023 gubernatorial election in Abia state, among other issues, for determination.
The Abia State High Court in the said judgment, ruled in favour of High Chief Ikechi Emenike and mandated APC to upload his name in INEC portal as her candidate.
The court also compelled INEC to accept his name as uploaded, publish same as the candidate of APC for gubernatorial election in Abia State in the 2023 general elections.
The court, above all, restrained INEC from accepting or publishing the name of any other person as the candidate of APC in the said election other than High Chief Ikechi Emenike.
Uche Ogah, who was not a party to the suit at the trial court and who did not participate in the primary election of APC as above stated, approached the Court of Appeal in Suit Number: CA-OW-243M-2022, with a Motion on Notice for leave to appeal against the said judgment as an interested party.
The legal team of Ikechi Emenike and APC opposed the motion on grounds that the Court of Appeal lacks the jurisdiction to hear and determine same in that the motion was filed outside 14 days period stipulated in section 285 (11) of the 1999 constitution (as amended) for filing of an appeal in pre-election cases.
The Court of Appeal upheld the preliminary objection against the motion and ruled that “the motion for leave filed by Uche Ogah as the Applicant was filed out of time (14) days as provided for and by section 285 (11) of the constitution of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and accordingly incompetent; that the Applicant, Uche Ogah, did not approach the court with clean hands.”
Consequently, the appellate court struck out the suit for want of jurisdiction.
