Follow Us on Google
The Court of Appeal will this week rule on the appeal challenging the sack of Senator Ifeanyi Ubah as senator representing Anambra South, by the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Kubwa, in relation to alleged certificate forgery and non-conduct of primary election by the Young Progressives Party (YPP).
The Court of Appeal panel headed by Justice Stephen Adah, last week reserved judgement in the case brought before it by Ubah. This week will make it 60 days, within which the Court of Appeal is expected to deliver judgement, in accordance with the law.
Senator Ubah, had filed his appeal on January 20, seeking the setting aside of his sack by Justice Bello Kawu of the FCT High Court, Kubwa, who, on January 17, reaffirmed his earlier judgement of April 11, 2019. The court sacked Ubah from Senate and ordered that Dr. Obinna Uzoh, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) be issued Certificate of Return and sworn in as replacement.
In deciding the case this week, the appeal court will determine if it could go ahead to entertain a case, which was not instituted 14 days after the High Court judgement or dismiss it for failing to come up within the time limit. The FCT High Court, Kubwa ,delivered main judgement on the case on April 11, 2019 ,but there was no response by Ubah ,until January this year when he went back to the same court seeking review of judgement. Under Section 285 of the 1999 Constitution as amended, pre-election cases must be appealed within 14 days after judgement. Ubah was expected to have challenged the case latest in April 2019 ,but did not.
Ubah’s eventual appeal is only seeking the setting aside of the High Court judgement without making case to prove that the allegations of certificate forgery and non- conduct of primaries by his party before ticket was handed to him were false.
Justice Kawu, in his judgement on April 11, 2019, in a suit filed by Anani Anacletus Chuka nullified Ubah’s election on the grounds that he allegedly presented a forged National Examination Council (NECO) certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) while entering for the senatorial election, which held in February 2019. He also ordered that Uzoh should be sworn in as senator representing Anambra South, being the candidate of the PDP, which came second in the election.
Uzoh had got a favourable judgement against Ubah over the conduct of the PDP primary election for Anambra South. Deliverying the judgement in the suit on Anambra South PDP primary, Justice A.O. Musa ,of the High Court of the FCT, Abuja, on March 25, 2019 ruled that Uzoh was the winner of the PDP primary election. With this judgement, Uzoh applied to join Chuka’s suit challenging Ubah’s victory. His motion filed on March 27, 2019 was granted after which he filed a counter affidavit.Justice Kawu also affirmed this judgement on January 17, 2020 while ruling on Ubah’s application seeking to set aside his sack. Ubah had said the application on which judgement was delivered lacked merit and therefore should be cancelled. Having failed in his bid to get the High Court to overrule itself, Ubah approached the Court of Appeal complained that he did not get fair hearing at the FCT High Court, among others.
According to appeal filed by his lawyer, Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN, which has Chuka, YPP, INEC, and Uzoh, as respondents, Ubah is asking the appellate court to also set aside the judgement on the grounds that the FCT High Court court lacked jurisdiction to have heard the case. Ubah claimed that at the time the judgement was delivered, the suit had not been filed as filing fees was not paid.
Uzoh’s lawyer, Professor H. A. Olaniyan, and N. A. Mohammed representing Chuka, whose suit had put Ubah on the spot, however prayed the appeal court to dismiss the appeal, as the required time for it had ellapsed, in accordance with Section 285 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended. Olaniyan told the appeal court: “Appellant did not appeal against the substantive suit No FCT/HC/CV/3014/2018 delivered on 11th April 2019. “Appellant only appealed against the ruling of January 2020 where the lower court refused appellant’s application to set aside the judgment.”
He posited that Ubah’s failure to appeal against the judgement of April 11, 2019 amounted to an admission of facts canvassed by parties before the lower court.
Olaniyan submitted: “My noble lords, we submit respectfully that the appellant conceded the judgement of the lower court delivered on the 11th day of April 2019 and as such the judgement remains valid to all intent and purpose.”
He quoted APC vs Karfi, where the Supreme Court ruled that “decision of the court not appealed against remains valid, binding and subsisting and taken as acceptance between the parties.” The counsel said that “INEC did not appeal against the trial court’s decision,” which makes it binding.
