Again, Supreme Court Shifts Hearing Appeal Against Uzodimma

The Supreme Court has again dashed the hope of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Action Peoples Party by failing to hear their case against Governor Hope Uzodimma before the November 11, 2023 governorship election.

After failing to list the appeal for three years, the case was supposed to be heard yesterday but the Court gave a fresh hearing notice to the parties after several adjournments.

The apex court had shifted till December 5, 2023 the hearing of the applications filed by the two parties against the eligibility of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2019 governorship election in Imo State.

By the new date, Uzodimma’s four years in office would be over and a new election conducted. The governor is seeking a second term in office.

In their prayers before the apex court, they asked that Uzodimma be removed as governor of the state.

The applicants had expected that the court would determine the applications before the November 11 governorship election in the state.

They prayed the apex court to give effect to its judgement delivered in 2019, disqualifying Uche Nwosu of the APP from the Imo governorship election on grounds of double nomination.

They argued that the APC, which was held by the Supreme Court to have also nominated Nwosu could not have at the same time also nominated Uzodimma.

The PDP asked the Supreme Court to return its candidate, Emeka Ihedioha, as the winner of the election since APC was precluded from sponsoring two candidates in the governorship election.

The Supreme Court judgement on Imo 2019 governorship election is one of the cases mentioned by retired Justice Musa Dattijo Muhammad as being of public concern.

The PDP application was filed on July 9, 2020, but the Supreme Court did not give the party a hearing date, until this week, over three years after.

Although the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Ihedioha the winner of the election, the apex court, however, in a judgement in 2020, sacked Ihedioha and declared Uzodimma the lawful winner of the poll.

In the run up to the 2019 Imo governorship election, the APP and its candidate, Mr Uche Nnadi and the PDP approached the Federal High Court, Abuja, seeking, amongst other reliefs, the disqualification of Ugwumba Uche Nwosu from contesting the Imo State Governorship election on the ground that he (Nwosu) was nominated by two political parties – Action Alliance (AA) and APC contrary to Section 37 of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) which forbids double nomination.

The PDP and APP won at the High Court and Appeal Court levels. The apex court concurred in a December 2019 judgement that Nwosu is guilty of double nominations under the platform of two political parties – the APC and AA – a decision which led to the instant appeals.

Specifically, both the PDP and APP in these fresh appeals are asking the Supreme Court to give effect to its judgement delivered in 2019, disqualifying Uche Nwosu from the Imo governorship election on the grounds of double nomination.

The grouse is predicated on the grounds that APC cannot have the governorship in person of Uzodimma, when the court had already voided the candidacy of Nwosu, who was nominated by the APC for the said 2019 governorship poll. On its part, the PDP is asking the Supreme Court to return its candidate, Ihedioha as winner of the election since APC was precluded from sponsoring two candidates in the Imo State governorship election.

In an affidavit filed in support of the application which was deposed to by a legal practitioner, Adedamola Farokun, working in the Legal Department of the PDP, he averred thus: “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.