THE All Progressives Congress (APC) and its factional gubernatorial candidate in Rivers State both lost their appeals praying the Supreme Court to make them participate in the general election held recently.
Following the judgment, therefore, Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, called on the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, to join hands with him to develop the state.
The apex court, on Thursday, had earlier dismissed the separate appeals filed by the APC and its factional governorship candidate, Tonye Cole, on the ground that the notices of appeal were incompetent in law.
In the notices of appeal, the two appellants had asked the court of appeal to make them participants in the general election in Rivers State.
The APC, in a notice of appeal, argued by its counsel, Jibrin Okutepa, had urged the apex court to depart from its previous decision that held that the APC could not field candidates in the just-concluded general election on grounds that its appeal against the decision of the Court of Appeal, Port Harcourt Division, was academic, having been filed out of time.
He also urged the Supreme Court to invoke Section 22 of its rule and set aside the judgment of the Rivers State High Court which barred the APC from participating in the general election on grounds that it did not conduct a valid primaries.
However, counsel for the first respondent, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Emmanuel Ukala, in a notice of preliminary objection, urged the apex court to strike out the appeal or dismiss it in its entirety for lacking in merit.
Ukala, while insisting that the appellant did not have any valid appeal before the apex court, urged the Supreme Court to uphold its preliminary objection and dismiss the appeal for lacking merit.
The senior counsel, who cited several authorities, submitted that the APC had not asked for anything from the Supreme Court and, therefore, the notice of appeal was incompetent in law and asked that it should be struck out and be dismissed.
In the ruling of the Supreme Court, delivered by the acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad, the apex court agreed that the notice of appeal by APC was defective and grossly incompetent.
Justice Muhammad, therefore, upheld the preliminary objection raised by the PDP and consequently struck out the notice of appeal and dismissed same for being incompetent.
In the second appeal filed by Tonye Cole through Tuduru Eteh, the notice of appeal was wrongly addressed to the Court of Appeal in the reliefs being sought that the Supreme Court should officially declare him (Tonye Cole) as the APC’s governorship candidate for the 2019 elections in Rivers State.
This promptly made the counsel to withdraw the incompetent notice of appeal and it was subsequently struck out by the court in its ruling delivered by the acting CJN.
In the third appeal between APC and Senator Magnus Abe, the court also struck out the notice of appeal on the same grounds that it was incompetent, having been addressed to the Court of Appeal instead of the Supreme Court.
With the latest decisions of the Supreme Court, all court actions concerning Rivers State APC in relation to 2019 general election had been laid to rest.
Following the judgment, Governor Wike called on Amaechi to join hands with him to develop the state.
In a state broadcast to mark what he termed the landmark judgment striking out the appeals by Rivers APC on Thursday, Governor Wike said Rivers State stood to benefit more if all leaders were united.
“Although the present politics of acrimony and bitterness may have strayed from the noble path of the past, I still believe that we shall be better of standing and working together for our state and our people.
“I, therefore, appeal to the APC and the Minister of Transportation to join hands with us to move our dear state forward. We cannot as leaders continue to remain divided and expect government to deliver on its responsibilities to our people. Let us henceforth seek the common ground instead of allowing our differences to be exploited to retard our march to progress.
“I appeal to our people to eschew all acts of acrimony, criminality, unrest and violence throughout the state. I wish to recommit myself to continue to do all that is humanly possible to ensure the unity and peaceful co-existence of all our people, irrespective of political affiliation,” he said.
The governor directed the state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice to review all pending criminal cases linked to politics before the 2019 election and make necessary recommendations to promote reconciliation.
“I hereby direct the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice to review all pending criminal proceedings filed against any person by the state and directly related to political activities prior to the 2019 general election and make appropriate recommendations to me for necessary action to promote reconciliation among us,” he said.
The governor also pledged to run an inclusive government aimed at promoting and developing the state.
“Today, I recommit myself to be the governor for all the people of Rivers State for the next four years. Accordingly, we shall form an all-inclusive government to advance the collective interest of all our people, irrespective of party, ethnic or religious affiliations.
“We have come a long way in the last four years and accomplished a lot to be proud of. But there’s still a lot more to do to advance and realise the ultimate vision of our founding fathers for a truly united, secure and prosperous state and we need the support of all our people to realise this bold vision.
“We salute the opposition for their courage to fight within the confines of the law to the end. Now that the legal battle is over, the task of building the state must take precedence over all other considerations,” Wike stated.
He expressed gratitude to God for the Supreme Court judgment and assured Rivers people that with the judgment, all legal tussles had come to a close with the people having nothing to fear.
“With this decision, all legal issues regarding the fielding of candidates by the APC for the 2019 National Assembly, governorship and state House of Assembly elections in Rivers State have finally and permanently been put to rest. What this further means is that the victory of the PDP and its candidates in the 2019 National Assembly, governorship and state House of Assembly elections is legally safe, secured and protected.
“I wish to assure you that there is nothing else to fear or be worried about, as there is nothing more the APC or any other person can do to deny us the victory you freely gave to the PDP and its candidates,” he stated further.
ALSO READ: Appeal Court strikes out motion setting aside gazette on approval of 48 traditional rulers in Oyo
Supreme Court judgment vindicates us —PDP
The PDP affirmed that the concluding judgment of the Supreme Court, “which categorically ended the inordinate manipulations” by the APC to overturn the governorship, national and state assembly elections in Rivers State had finally vindicated Governor Wike and the people of Rivers State.
According to a statement by Kola Ologbondiyan, the party’s national publicity secretary, in Abuja, the resoluteness of the Supreme Court in upholding justice and resisting manipulations by APC leaders to revisit the issue of APC flawed primaries in the state, which it said were lawfully annulled by the lower courts, had brought respite to Nigerians and further restored their confidence in the institution of the judiciary.
The PDP, therefore, charged the APC leaders to note that they had come to the end of the road and that “though evil may thrive for a moment, truth, justice and the will of the people will always prevail.”
and then