A seven-member panel of Justices of the Supreme Court, on Tuesday, adjourned till March 2, 2020 to commence hearing of an application brought before it by the immediate past governor of Imo State, Emeka Ihedioha and his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) seeking the setting aside of the January 14 judgment of the apex court which sacked Ihedioha from the Imo state government house.
The Court had earlier fixed Tuesday (yesterday) to commence hearing in the matter but when it came up, Chief Kanu Agabi (SAN), counsel representing Ihedioha informed the court that parties in the matter are still filing processes.
Agabi then asked the court for a short adjournment to enable parties file and serve all the processes in the matter.
The application for adjournment was not opposed and the CJN, presiding the seven-man panel adjourned till March 2 to commence hearing in the matter.
The apex court had, in a unanimous judgment nullified the election of Ihedioha and ordered that Senator Hope Uzodinma of the All Progressive Congress (APC) be sworn in as Imo state governor.
The Court, which set aside the concurrent judgements of the state governorship election petition tribunal and the Court of Appeal, which affirmed Iheodioha’s election, held that he (Ihedioha) was not validly elected as the governor of the state and consequently ordered that the certificate of return issued to Ihedioha be retrieved and issued to Hope Uzodinma.
Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, who read the unanimous decision of the apex court held that the lowers erred in law when it rejected the evidence tenders before them to the extent that the votes from the 388 polling units were not credited to the APC and Hope Uzodinma.
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Dissatisfied with the verdict of the apex court, Ihedioha, through his legal team approached the Supreme Court via a Motion on Notice dated February 5, 2020, seeking the setting aside as a nullity the judgment delivered by the Court on the 14th of January 2020 in Appeal No. SC.1462/2019 and Cross-Appeal No. SC.1470/2019.
The motion, hinged on five grounds stated that the judgment sought to be set aside is a nullity in that it was obtained by fraud or deceit because the Appellants/Respondents fraudulently misled the court into holding that a total of 213,495 votes were unlawfully excluded from the votes scored by the 1st Appellant/Respondent in the gubernatorial
election of 9th March 2019 in Imo State.
Ihedioha contended that the judgment sought to be set aside is a nullity in that it was delivered without jurisdiction by reason of the following: “Having regard to section 140(2) of the Electoral Act (as amended), the Appellants/Respondents divested this Honourable Court of the relevant jurisdiction to declare the 1st Appellant/ Respondent as the winner of the gubernatorial election conducted in Imo State on the 9th day of March 2019 by branding or stigmatizing the entire election as invalid.
Ihedioha and his party held that the apex court did not have the jurisdiction to declare Uzodinma as duly elected in the absence of any proof that the votes ascribed to him met the mandatory geographical spread stipulated in section 179 (2) of the Constitution.
In a preliminary objection, governor Uzodimma has asked the Supreme Court to dismiss Ihedioha’s application seeking to set aside the apex court’s judgement which had on January 14, 2020, ordered his (Ihedioha) removal from office.
Uzodimma and APC’s preliminary objection dated February 6, 2020, against Ihedioha’s motion on notice was brought pursuant to Section 6(6)(a) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended.
Uzodimma and his party, the APC urged the apex court to strike out the motion filed by Ihedioha.
Arguing through their counsel, Damian Dodo (SAN), the objectors stated that, “The application is a proceeding relating to or arising from the election of a governor is barred by effluxion of time.
“The application constitutes an invitation to the Supreme Court to sit on appeal over its final decision” Uzodimma stated and further submitted that, “Having delivered its final decision on the 1st and 2nd Respondents’ Appeal No. SC. 1462/2019 between Senator Hope Uzodinma & Anor v Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha & 2 Ors., the Supreme Court has become fuctus officio and divested of jurisdiction over the same subject matter.
“Order 8 Rule 16 of the Supreme Court Rules 2014 prohibits this Honourable Court from reviewing its judgment once given and delivered, save to correct clerical mistakes or accidental slip.
“The judgment sought to be set aside, having been given effect by the inauguration of the 1st Respondent/Objector as Governor of Imo State, this Honourable Court lacks the jurisdiction to grant the prayer sought” Uzodimma argued.
More so, Uzodimma stated that Ihedioha’s application “constitutes an abuse of court process” and “is against public policy” and added that the application filed by the ousted governor amounts to an invitation to the Court to indulge in academic exercise and answer hypothetical questions.
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