HAPPENING NOW: Abuja court hands-off Ikpeazu vs Ogah guber war, refuses to enforce order compelling Ikpeazu’s removal

  Okon Abang, justice of the federal high court, Abuja, has refused to make an order enforcing his previous judgment removing Okezie Ikpeazu as Abia state governor.

Delivering his ruling on Friday, Abang held that he had jurisdiction to hear any application against his final judgments.‎

He said that Order 4 of the appeal court rules did not apply to the case before him.

Abang said that Ikpeazu ran to the appeal court for “stay of execution” of an order removing him as governor instead of coming to him to decide on the matter.

He said all these in response to the argument of Wole Olanipekun, counsel to Ikpeazu, challenging his jurisdiction to hear any application on the matter.

However, he said that based on the submission of Alex Iziyon, counsel to Uche Ogah, the court lacked jurisdiction to take the application for stay of execution, and he would not enter the fray of legal dispute by making a pronouncement.

“Based on Iziyon’s application, I hereby adjourn the proceedings pending the appeal at the appeal court,” Abang held.

Making his argument, Olanipekun said that he had filed a suit at the appeal court to challeng a previous judgment of the court removing his client as governor.

He had argued that based on Order 4 of the appeal court rules, Abang lacked the jurisdiction to hear any application on the case because an appeal had been entered at the appeal court.

He therefore asked Abang to hands off the case because he had become “functus officio.”

“The record of appeal has been transmitted to the court of appeal on July 4. The appeal has been duly entered at the court of appeal. The court appeal is fully seized of this matter,” he said.

But Alex Iziyon, counsel to Ogah, argued that the application constituted an abuse of court process.

“The application constitutes an abuse of court process and contempt of court. At this stage of the proceedings, can this honourable court shut its eye to an issue that borders on abuse?” he asked.

Iziyon asked the judge to make a pronouncement setting aside the order of an Abia high court, restraining the chief judge from swearing in Ogah as the state governor.

“I submit that this issue is still live and your lordship has the exclusive power to deal with it as it borders on integrity and sanctity… and make findings because that is not the issue for the court of appeal,” he said.

“We ask that a pronouncement be made on the order by the Abia high court which is a court of coordinate jurisdiction. We want this court to set aside this order so that we can face the matter at the appeal court.”

On Monday, Abang, had held that he would not set aside his previous order removing Ikpeazu as governor of Abia state.

This was when Ikpeazu, through Olanipekun, filed an application asking the court to vacate the order.

But Abang said that he would not review the order, but that he would hear other applications on the matter on Thursday.

But the matter did not come up until Friday owing to the public holiday.

On June 27, the judge ruled that Ikpeazu was not qualified to hold office as Abia governor because he had filed fake tax certificate before his election in 2015.

He had given the judgment in a suit filed by Ogah, a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain‎, against Ikpeazu.

In the suit, Ogah contended that the governor filled forged tax certificate prior to his election, and as such was‎ not qualified to hold an elective office.

The judge upheld the argument of Ogah, ordering the removal of Ikpeazu.

Abang also ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to issue a certificate of return to Ogah, who was first runner in the PDP Abia governorship primary election, as governor of the state‎

Source: news express

Abia: Ikpeazu raises 50 grounds of appeal

Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu has raised 50 grounds on which he is seeking the Court of Appeal’s reversal of his removal from office for tax certificate discrepancies.

Justice Okon Abang on June 27, ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately issue a Certificate of Return to Dr. Uche Ogah, who polled the second highest number of votes in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) primary election.

In his July 4 notice of appeal, Dr. Ikpeazu, through his counsel, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), raised 50 grounds of appeal and expressed dissatisfaction with the decision of the lower court.

The respondents are: Dr. Sampson Uchechukwu Ogah(1st); Peoples Democratic Party( 2nd); the Independent National Electoral Commission (3th); and Mr.  Friday Nwanozie Nwosu (4th)..

His first ground of appeal is that the trial judge erred in law and came to a wrong decision in holding that the appellant was ineligible to participate in the primary election of the 2nd respondent by reason of presenting false information to the 3rd respondent in INEC Form CF001 and consequently granting all the reliefs claimed by the 1st respondent in his originating summons.

According to the second ground of appeal, the lower court equally erred in law and reached a perverse decision when after finding thus:  “The cause of action arose in this matter when the 1st and 2nd defendants forwarded Form CF001 containing alleged false information to the Independent National Electoral Commission”. It went ahead to disqualify the appellant from being a candidate at the 2nd respondent’s primary election and declared the 1st respondent as the winner of the primary election.

On his third ground of appeal, Dr. Ikpeazu noted that the lower court erred in law and acted without jurisdiction when it purported to enforce/apply the provisions of the PDP Electoral Guidelines for primary elections 32014 in determining the originating summons before it without the PDP Guidelines being put in evidence before it.

In his fourth ground of appeal, Ikepazu pointed out that the lower court also erred in law and reached a perverse decision when it held in respect of the Supreme Court decision in Ekagbara v, Ikpeazu (2016) 4 NWLR (pt. 1503) 541 thus: “In fact in the above cited case, Supreme Court in a way departed from its earlier decision in Kharki v. PDP… Supreme Court also held that this court has jurisdiction to entertain a suit questioning the qualification of an aspirant in a primary election by a fellow aspirant when the aspirant whose qualification is being questioned did not pay tax as at when due or where there are lapses in the tax paper of such aspirant… In Ekagbara v. Ikpeazu (supra), the Supreme Court also held that it does not really matter that this will involve the examination of tax administration in Abia State of Nigeria.”

In his fifth ground of appeal, the appellant observed that trial judge erred in law and came to a perverse decision when he asked thus: “It is either that the information are false or correct, I do not think it is a case of forgery. I do not think facts are in dispute. Even if the affidavits of the parties are in dispute, they are not in my view in dispute on material facts… It is for the 1st to 2nd defendants to show that the information contained in documents attached to Form CF001 submitted to Independent National Electoral Commission are not false … I think the court can conveniently use the affidavit evidence placed before it to resolve issues in controversy. This suit was properly commenced by an originating summon”.

In the seventeenth ground of appeal, Ikpeazu observed that the lower court misdirected itself and reached a perverse decision when it held that the appellant presented false information to INEC by reason of the alleged differences between the tax receipts and the tax certificate with respect to the tax return 2013.

According to the last ground of appeal, Ikpeazu stressed that the decision of the lower court was/is against the weight of evidence, and therefore sought the following relief from the Court of Appeal, the first being, an order allowing this appeal. The second, an order setting aside all the main and consequential orders made and granted by the lower court and the last, an order dismissing or striking out the amended originating summons in suit no. FHC/ABJ/CS/71/2016.

Source: The Nation

Breaking: Medical Director of Abia State Polytechnic kidnapped in Aba

 

The Medical Director of Abia State Polytechnic, Aba, Dr. Eze Nwokocha, has been kidnapped by unknown gunmen.

Nwokocha was allegedly whisked away by unknown gunmen at about 7pm on Sunday evening around Howells Crescent near the Aba Fire Service station.

Punch quoted a source as saying that the medical doctor was returning to his house after attending a meeting in his hometown in the city, when gunmen accosted him and whisked him away in another vehicle.

 

 It was gathered that the suspects demanded for about N50m ransom, but the men of the Abia State Police Command and other security agencies in the state have intensified efforts to rescue him.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Ogbonnaya Nta, said the incident had yet to be reported to the police.

Source: Dailypost

Abia stalemate: I've not been consulted, says AGF

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), has denied media reports that he was behind the legal stalemate over the Abia state governorship seat, saying "those canvassing the position have no basis to do so." 

While insisting that so far, nobody has approached him to proffer any legal opinion to the Abia State crisis, Malami urged the parties involved to await the decision of the courts. 

According to him, the insinuations are a figment of the imagination of those "pushing the irredeemable lies into public space which only translates to partisanship on the side of its purveyors."

The clarification of the AGF was contained in a statement by his Special Adviser (Media and Publicity), Dr. Othman Salihu Isah, obtained by journalists on Sunday in Abuja, in reaction to a story on the front page of a national Newspaper with the headline: "Abia: Buhari awaits AGF's advice on stalemate."

The statement reads: "The attention of the Office of the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice has been drawn to the insinuations and crass lies being peddled and disseminated by a cross-section of Nigerians and the various media platforms that the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation is behind the legal logjam over the Abia state governorship seat and wish to clarify that those canvassing this position have no basis to do so. 

"Of particular concern are those who have peddled ill-natured rumours with a view to misinform our discerning populace that the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and by extension, the Federal Government of Nigeria that gave directives to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to issue Certificate of Return to Dr. Uchechukwu Ogah declaring him Governor-Elect. He has definitely not taken any action either by spoken words or body language as far as this Abia governorship crisis is concerned.

"I wish to therefore, on behalf of my principal declare that these rumours are untrue and a figment of the imagination of those pushing these selfish, shameless and irredeemable lies into public space which only translates to partisanship on the side of its purveyors.

"As far as the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation is concerned, the constitutional powers for the legal opinion of his office have not been invoked on this issue. So far, nobody has approached him to proffer any legal opinion to it. As a strong believer in the rule of law, it is his belief that the law should naturally take its cause. The Honourable Attorney General of the Federation will not be dragged into this controversy and mind-games being played out by the various legal minds and spin doctors of both camps at this point.  

"The parties involved should await the decision of the courts. In fact, we wish to by this statement advise those in the habit of dragging the highly esteemed Office of the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice into knotty issue of this kind even when it is yet to take a position. They should desist from these unwarranted presumptions henceforth.  

Signed...

COMRADE SALIHU OTHMAN ISAH

SPECIAL ADVISER, MEDIA AND PUBLICITY

TO THE HON. ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE FEDERATION AND MINISTER OF JUSTICE

3RD JULY, 2016

Source: elombah.com