Anambra 2021: Appeal Court restores Soludo’s mandate, as Okeke faction heads to Supreme Court

Factional Acting National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), High Chief Jude Okeke, alongside the party’s governorship candidate in the forthcoming Anambra gubernatorial election, Hon. Chukwuma Umeoji have jointly rejected judgment of the Court of Appeal sitting in Kano which has set aside the earlier ruling by a Jigawa High Court that declared the latter as Chairman of Party, with the right to produce a candidate for the poll this November 6.

A statement issued by the factional National Publicity Secretary of APGA, Ikechukwu Chukwunyere, Tuesday, said Okeke’s lawyers have been instructed to take all necessary steps to appeal the judgment at the Supreme Court.

It would be recalled that the much-anticipated ruling by a Kano appeal court finally ruled that the appellant, Victor Oye, was the authentic National Chairman of APGA and had the right to conduct a primary which produced Prof. Chukwuma Charles Soludo as the party candidate in the Anambra Governorship election scheduled for November 6, this year.

The Appeal Court sitting in Kano, Tuesday in its judgment, set aside a ruling by the Jigawa State High Court that declared one Jude Okeke as the National Chairman of the party.

The three-man panel unanimously dismissed the case, saying that the High Court in Jigawa lacked territorial jurisdiction to handle such matters.

The matter was brought before Justice Haruna Simon, by the embattled National Chairman of APGA, Chief Victor Oye, who is appealing the ruling of a Jigawa State High Court, that installed Jude Okeke as the party’s national chairman.

In that ruling by the Jigawa court, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), was also ordered to recognise Chukwuma Umeoji, as the gubernatorial candidate of APGA, for the November 6 election, as against Charles Soludo.

However, delivering ruling at the Appeal Court, Justice Haruna Simon said, APGA was not joined in the suit and was not given a fair hearing.

The three-man panel said the trial judge in Jigawa has no power of jurisdiction, to order any matter regarding the elections that happened in Anambra State.

It, therefore, set the ruling aside, in favour of the appellant.

Counsel to the appellant, Steve Nwoga, welcomed the judgment and called on INEC to declare Charles Soludo, as the gubernatorial candidate of APGA in Anambra State.

Counsel to the first respondent, Chibuzor Ezike said, they will understudy the judgement, as counsel for INEC said, the judgement is well considered.

Meanwhile, the Okeke faction has already rejected the Kano court ruling as it issued a statement promising to head to the Supreme Court for better interpretation of the position.

The statement was titled; ‘Anambra Governorship: Umeoji, Jude Okeke Reject Appeal Court Judgment, Head to Court…Instruct Lawyers to Immediately Head to Supreme Court…Say Judgement a Temporary Setback…to Proceed with Campaign Pending Supreme Court Judgment…Insist Law was Turned Upside Down by the Court of Appeal.’

The statement signed by Comrade Ikechukwu Chukwunyere, the factional National Publicity Secretary, dismissed the appellate court’s judgment as ‘a mere temporary setback which will be set aside by the Supreme Court as quickly and easily as possible.’

“The Hon. Chukwuma Umeoji Campaign will, therefore, continue unhindered pending the judgment of the Supreme Court where victory is assured. All supporters and party members are, therefore, urged to remain peaceful and law abiding while maintaining the confidence level, as there is nothing that can stop an idea whose time has come.

“The campaign organisation 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. How could the panel rule on the 30th of July, 2021, that the matter before it was a pre-election matter, thereby struck out the appeal by Chief Edozie Njoku, filed on the 22nd July, 2021, that it was filed out of time, and then come today to now rule that the case is no longer a pre-election matter, just to allow Victor Oye’s appeal that was filed on the 30th July, 2021.

“The Supreme Court will gladly remind the Court of Appeal that consistency in its ruling is one of the core pillars of our judicial system and that a court cannot sit on appeal over itself nor arbitrarily overrule itself.

“The Supreme Court, being the highest court 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,” the statement read.