The Court of Appeal
sitting in Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja has declared Mr. Eyitayo
Jegede, SAN, as the rightful candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP,
for the Ondo governorship election billed for Saturday. In an unanimous
judgment, the Justice Ibrahim Saulawa led three-man Special Panel of the appeal
court, vacated the June 29 judgement of Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High
Court in Abuja, which directed the Independent National Electoral Commission,
INEC, to recognise Mr. Jimoh Ibrahim as PDP gubernatorial candidate for the
poll.
Jegede had
approached the court to challenge the high court verdict which ordered INEC to
only relate with the Ali Modu-Sheriff faction of the PDP. Justice Abang had on
October 14, also re-affirmed his decision, even as he warned the electoral body
against accepting any candidate nominated by the Senator Ahmed Markafi-led
National Caretaker Committee of the PDP. Acting on the strength of the order,
INEC, promptly removed Jegede’s name from the list of candidates for the Ondo
gubernatorial poll, and replaced it with Mr. Ibrahim.
It will be recalled
that whereas Jegede emerged from primary election that was sanctioned by the
Markarfi-led NWC of the PDP, Ibrahim on the other hand, secured his ticket from
the Modu-Sheriff faction of the party. Meanwhile, in its verdict on Wednesday,
the appellate court, held that Justice Abang’s refusal of to grant fair hearing
to Jegede, “rendered the entire proceedings before his court a nullity”.
According to Justice Saulawu, “Indeed it is obvious from the records that the
appellant’s name had been duly published as the governorship candidate of the
11th respondent (PDP) for the November 26 Ondo governorship election” Eyitayo
Jegede and Jimoh Ibrahim It held that the lower court was in grievous error
when it ordered the publication of Ibrahim’s name.
It said the decision
of the high court was in total breach of the provision of section 36 of the
1999 constitution, which it said forbade any court from denying fair hearing to
a party likely to be affected by final decision of the court. Justice Saulawa,
said the action of the court violated the legal doctrine of audi altarem
partem. “The tenets of natural Justice entails that a party ought to be heard
prior to determination of case against them”.
The appellate court
also noted that Justice Abang ordered INEC to “immediately” recognise Mr.
Ibrahim who was never a party in the suit that culminated to both the June 29
and October 14 judgments. “The Court below had no jurisdictional competence to
make such order. I have no restriction in the circumstance in resolving the
second issue equally in favour of the appellant”.
It said that Justice
Abang “unilaterally”, raised issues that were not included by the plaintiffs,
an action it said amounted to “a violent attitudinal disposition to the rule of
law”.
Follow Solenzo Blog on
0 Comments