The Court of Appeal, Abuja Division on Thursday nullified the judgment of a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory that sacked Senator Ifeanyi Ubah as the Senator representing Anambra South Senatorial District at the National Assembly for being a nullity.
A three-man panel of justices of the appellate court held that the judgment delivered by Justice Bello Kawu of the Abuja High Court sitting in Kubwa, was a nullity because the suit was unlawfully instituted because it did not comply with any known law.
Justice Steven Adah, who read the unanimous judgment of the court agreed with Ubah’s counsel, Dr Onyeachi Ikpeazu (SAN) to hold that, the originating summons, upon which the April 11, 2019 judgment of the lower trial court was delivered was not signed by counsel to the plaintiffs according to law.
According to the court, “a document that is not signed is a worthless piece of paper that lacks integrity.”
The court held that failure to sign the originating summons was fatal to the case and the judgment which arose from it was a nullity.
The Appeal Court also held that the Abuja High Court lacked the territorial jurisdiction to entertain the matter as the cause of the legal action arose from the Anambra South Senatorial District election held in Anambra State.
“There are courts in Anambra State to entertain the suit arising from the election. The lower court has no jurisdiction and the decision in that case is a nullity.”
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He said Ubah’s suit was not caught up by section 285 of the 1999 Constitution which made it mandatory that an appeal must be lodged within 14 days after judgement was delivered.
Besides, the appellate court said it found no evidence that Ubah was served with any hearing notice before the trial court delivered a judgement against him.
“Any breach of the right of the appellant vitiated the entire proceeding. The right to a fair hearing is very fundamental and very sacrosanct. Once it is breached in a proceeding, every order therefrom amounts to nullity”, the court held.
The court consequently set aside the judgment of the lower court and restrained the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the National Assembly from taking any steps or given effect to the judgment of the lower trial court.
The court also awarded a cost of N250,000 against the 1st and fourth respondent in the matter, the money, the court held should be paid to the appellant.
Justice Bello Kawu had on January 17, 2020, affirmed his order which nullified Ubah’s election on the ground that he allegedly used a forged National Examination Council (NECO) certificate to contest the senatorial election that held in Anambra South on February 23, 2019.
The court had on April 11, 2019, after sacking Ubah of the Young Progressive Party (YPP), ordered INEC to withdraw the certificate of return it issued to Ubah and issue a fresh one to Dr Obinna Uzoh of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who came 2nd at the election.
Dissatisfied, Ubah approached the Court of Appeal to set aside the judgement which he insisted occasioned a grave miscarriage of justice against him.
and then