Ihedioha, Uzodimma

By Ngozi Onyeakusi– The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed an application by Mr. Emeka Ihedioha of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to upturn its January 14, 2020 judgement which removed him and declared Mr. Hope Uzodinma of the All Progressives Party (APC) as the bona fide winner of the March 9 governorship election held in the state.

Whereas Ihedioha and the PDP, through their lawyer, Mr. Kanu Agabi urged the court to review and set-aside the judgement they argued was entered in error, Uzodinma and the APC, through their lawyer, Mr. Damian Dodo, prayed the court to reaffirm its decision by dismissing the fresh application they said constituted an abuse of court process.

For its part, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) which is the 3rd Respondent, through its lawyer, Mr. Taminu Inuwa, said it would abide by the decision of the apex court.

In a split ruling of six-to-one, the seven-man panel headed by the CJN, Justice Tanko Muhammad, held that it lacked powers to sit on appeal in its own judgment.

In the lead judgment delivered by Justice Kayode Ariwoola, the court held that granting the request of the applicants would open the flood gate by parties to all kinds of litigations.

The panel described Ihedioha’s application as an invitation to sit in an appeal over its judgment.

The court did not award any cost against any party.

However, Justice Chima Nweze, in his dissenting judgment set aside the judgment of the Supreme Court as a nullity.

He disagreed with the majority judgment saying the court had the power to overrule itself in a desirous situation.

The judge affirmed the Court of Appeal’s decision which upheld Ihedioha’s victory, adding that the Supreme Court in the January 14, 2020 judgment wrongly declared Uzodima as winner of the governorship election.

He held that the apex court was misled in declaring Uzodinma as governor and subsequently ordered his removal from office.

According to him, Uzodinma failed to give evidence of how he won the election.

He held that the votes used to declare Uzodinma winner was in excess of the accredited votes for the election.