Uzodinma

Imo Guber: Supreme Court declines PDP, Ihedioha’s request to remove Uzodinma

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The Supreme Court, on Tuesday, declined the request of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, to remove Senator Hope Uzodinma as the Governor of Imo State.

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The PDP and it’s gubernatorial candidate, Emeka Ihedioha, had asked the Supreme Court to give effect to its judgment delivered in 2019 that disqualified Uche Nwosu on the ground that he was nominated by both the AA and the All Progressives Congress to contest the election.

However, a five-man panel of the Supreme Court, led by Justice Inyang Okoro, dismissed an application seeking to remove Uzodinma from office because he was not validly nominated by the APC to contest the election that led to his first tenure in 2019.

The apex court held that it had no jurisdiction to entertain the appeal which it described as frivolous and highly vexatious.

Consequently, the judges awarded a personal cost of N40 million against Chief Mike Ozehkome, SAN, who represented the PDP and Ihedioha in the matter.

The case, which had been in the Supreme Court for over 3 years was initially fixed for hearing on October 31, but was later rescheduled till after the 2023 governorship poll in the state that led to Uzodinma’s re-election.

By the application, the applicants further sought to invalidate the years that Uzodinma spent in office as the Governor of Imo State.

Though the appeal was initially brought before the apex court by Mr. Uche Nwosu, the governorship candidate of the Action Alliance, AA, in the 2019 election, however, the PDP and its candidate, Emeka Ihedioha, who won the said contest, applied to be joined as interested parties in the matter.

The applicants said if the apex court recognised Nwosu as the candidate of the APC, there was no legal basis for its subsequent judgement that sacked Ihedioha and declared Uzodinma who was also sponsored by the same APC, as the valid winner of the governorship poll.

Consequently, the PDP urged the apex court to restore its candidate, Ihedioha, back to office, since the APC was precluded from sponsoring two candidates in the election.

In an affidavit deposed to by one Adedamola Farokun, the PDP averred: “The third Respondent/Applicant (PDP) is neither in any way seeking a review of the valid, subsisting and well-considered judgement of this court delivered in this appeal in 2019, nor seeking a review of the judgement of this court delivered on January 14, 2020, in SC/462/2019, but humbly seeking that this court give effect to its judgement delivered on December 20, 2019.

The applicants contended that there was no basis for the recent election that was held in the state on November 11, since Ihedioha had yet to conclude his tenure.

“That this court has the constitutional, inherent powers and jurisdiction to grant the reliefs sought and give effects to its judgement.

“That it is in the interest of justice for this court to exercise its wide discretionary powers in favour of granting this application as prayed.”

The deponent, Farokun, averred that Uzodinma was not the candidate of the APC based on the court’s judgement that Nwosu was nominated by both the APC and the AA.

PDP urged the Supreme Court to hold that “both the AA and APC did not sponsor and/or field any candidate for the governorship election held in Imo State on March 9, 2019, given the double nomination of the Appellant/Respondent by the two political parties aforesaid, and his subsequent disqualification as their gubernatorial candidate, as found by this honourable court in its judgement.”