Court of Appeal takes over August 7th,2010 Local Government Council election

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Rochas apc

By John Mgbe

The? last? has? not ?been heard about the? controversial August? 7th,2010? Local? Government? Council? election? in? Imo? State. The? latest? news? is? that? the?? suit? has? now? moved? to? the? Court? of? Appeal,? Owerri? for? adjudication. Investigation? shows? that? but? for? the? State? Government? which? has? yet? to? file? its? brief,? the? Court? of? Appeal? would? have ?since slated? the? suit? for? hearing. In? order? to? carry? everybody? along, there? is? a? need? to? do? a? brief? summation? of? the? genesis? of? the?? suit

What? happened? was? that ?the ?then? Governor, Chief? Ikedi? Ohakim,? through? the? Imo? State? Independent? Electoral? Commission(ISIEC) conducted? a controversial? Local? Government? Election? on? the? 7th? day? of? August,? 2010.The? result? was? released? the? next day,? Sunday,? 8th, while?? the? winners? were? ?sworn? into? office?? in very? early? on? Monday, 9th August,? 2010. Furthermore, all? the?? 27? Chairmen? who were ???said? to? have? won? the?? election? in? their? various? LGAs were? all? members? of? Peoples? Democratic? Party(PDP). It? was? against? this? background? that? the? poll? caused? panic? and?? bad ?blood among? the?? various? sections of? the?? political?? class? and? even? the? electorate in? the? state.

Dissatisfied? with? the?? result? released? by? the? ISIEC, a? group? called? ?The Opposing? Candidates? of? August? 7,? 2010? LG Election? went? to? court? to? contest? the? validity? of? the? LG? election? of? August 7th, 2010.In? a? judgment of? The? Imo? State High Court sitting? at? Owerri and? presided? over? by Hon. Justice I.O.Agugua and? delivered on? the? 26th day of? September, 2012,? he? dismissed the? suit NO. HOW/434/2011 as? an? abuse? of? court? process and? that? the? suit was? wrongly? commenced by? originating? summons .He? awarded? a? cost? of Ten? thousand Naira(10000.00) to? each? of? the? defendants against? the? Claimants. In? that? suit,? the? Claimants? include Reverend? Chris Ngozi? Ejealor and four? others? who? were? representing? the? Opposition? Candidates i.e. the? group? that? dragged? ISIEC? to? court. The? Respondents? include? the? The? Executive? Governor? of? Imo? State, The? ISIEC, ?and? the? then Chairmen? of? the? 27? LGAs? in? Imo? State-? all? of? who?? were and? are? still? members? of? the? People?s Democratic? Party(PDP).

Dissatisfied? with?? ruling of? the? Owerri? High? Court,? the? Rev.? Ngozi Ejealor ?led? group? who? are? now? the? appellants, has?? appealed? to? the? Court? of? Appeal ,Owerri? for intervention? on? this? controversial? issue.

A perusal? of? the? Appellant?s? Brief? as? filed? by? their? counsel shows? that? major? plank? of? the? Claimants? is? anchored? on? a? number? of? factors? of? which? the? most? significant? is? the? issue? of? the? cavalier? manner? in? which? the? injunction? instituted? by? Hon? Justice Goddy? Anunihu ?was? handled. According ?to , the? Counsel? of? the ??Appellants, Barrister Fidelis? Onyebuenyi???? of? the? ??.Law? Chamber, ?the Owerri? High? Court presided? over? by? Hon? Justice Goddy Anunihu had ?on the? 11/5/2010 restrained? the P.D.P from? organizing,? conducting,? holding or? causing to? be? organized,? conduct or? hold? any? Party? Primaries at? any level? of? the? party in? Imo? State for? the? purposes? of? electing or? selecting the? candidates the? candidates of P.D.D? for the ??Local? Government? Election in? Imo? State on the? 12/5/2010 or? any? other? day? thereafter until? the? determination of? the? interlocutory? injunction. And? on? the? 30/07/2010 ,the? said? learned? trial? judge reaffirmed? the?? order? he? made? on? the? 11/5/2010? and? went? further? to? declare? any? exercise? in? violation? of? the? said? order as? nullity.

Furthermore? the? Appellants? said? ?that when? the? party(P.D.P? violated? the? subsisting? order? of? the? court,? action? was? taken in? the? wrong? tribunal in? LGET/OW/3/10? and? LGET/OW/52/2010 by? different? parties and? the? petitions? were? struck? out? on? the? grounds of jurisdiction. The Appellants? who? were? Claimants in? the? Lower? Court? brought? an? action? by? way? of? originating? summons in? respect? of? the? action? of? P.D.P violating? the? order? of? HON? Justice Anunihu? in? HOW/545/2009.

In? his? submission? during? the? hearing,? the? Counsel? to? the? Respondents raised? the? issue? of? jurisdiction on? the? grounds? of? incompetent? process,? lack? of? Locus? Standi and? abuse? of? court? process. In? his?? judgment,? the? Learned? Trial? Judge, ?HON? Justice I.O.Agugua, dismissed? the? case? on? the? grounds? of? abuse of? court?s? process as? the? issues were? earlier? determined in? the? previous? matters and? above? all that? the? Originating? Summons was inappropriate to? commence? the? matter

Consequent? upon?? the? reasons adduced? by? the? Learned? Judge? of? the Lower? Court,? for? dismissing? the? suit,? Barrister? Onyebuenyi? has? raised?? a? number? of? issues? for? determination? by? the? Court? of? Appeal, Owerri.The? issues? for? determination? include? (1)Whether? a? suit can? be? dismissed? because? it? was? commenced? by? originating? summons? instead? of? Writ? of?? summons.

(2)Whether? the? action was? to? interpret the? Order? of HON? Justice Goddy? Anunihu or? to? declare? the? exercise in? violation? of? same as? a? nullity

(3)Whether? the? appellants? were? estopped from? relitigating the? issues? that? were? not? heard and? determined? by? a? court? or? tribunal ?of competent? jurisdiction.

(4) Whether? it? is? in? the? interest? of? the? public? that ?an? order? of? the? court? should? be? obeyed? and? a? party? affected? be? allowed? to? contest? the? violation? of? the? Order? of? Court.

In? his? brief? of? argument,? Barrister? Onyebuenyi? frontloaded crack? legal? citations in? regard? to? each? of ?the ?Issues? for? Determination? in? a? bid ??to?? validate? and?? lend? credence? to?? his? line? of? argument.

On? the? strength? of? the?? points? raised? above,? it? is? safe? to? say? that? everything? is? set? for? the? legal? gymnastics? which? will? take? place? in? the? Court? of? Appeal? in? order ?to ?put? an? end? to? this?? controversial? and? contentious? issue? which? has? raged? since? 2009.All? eyes? are? now? targeted? at? the Imo ??State? Government? whose?? own? brief ?on? the? suit is? the? only? factor? that? is?? presently?? keeping? the? suit? in? abeyance. It? is? pertinent? to emphasize? that? both? the? Executive? Governor? of? Imo? State and? The? Imo? State? Independent? Electoral? Commission(ISIEC)? are? both? parties? to? the? suit. In? the? Court? of? Appeal suit,? the? Governor? of? Imo State,? the? ISIEC AND? THE? 27? Chairmen? of? the? LGAs? are? the? respondents? while? the? Appellants include? REV. Ngozi? Akamdiocha and? 4? others representing? the? opposition? Councilors? who? are? contesting? the? legality? of? the? LG? Election? of? AUGUST 7th,? 2010.

Although the ?matter? of? tenure? is? ?a? matter?? that? has? not? been? finally? put? to? rest. The? present? suit? in? the? Court? of? Appeal? is? not? even? about? tenure? but? rather, ?the? Appellants? are? asking? the?? court? to? declare? the?? August 7, 2010? Election? illegal,? null and? void? and? of? no? effect.

The? decision? of? the? Court? of? Appeal on? this? issue? will? go? a? long? way? to??? strengthen? political? jurisprudence? in? the? Local? Government? sector. It? will? also? throw? more? light? in? some? recondite? areas? of? the? law? with? special? emphasis? on? the Local? Government? Councils. If? the? Court? of? Appeal, Owerri? upholds? the? election? as?? legal ,? then? the? Council? Chairmen? will? celebrate? their? victory? and? perhaps,? push? further? to?? ascertain? if? they? were? elected? for? two? or? three? years. They will also? be? entitled? to? payment? of? arrears. If, ?however,? the? Court? of? Appeal? declares? the? election? illegal, null and? void, the Chairmen will? lose? everything. If? or? when? this? happens,? it? will? remind? us? of? the? famous? dictum? of Lord Denning who? in? Macfoy Vs United? African? Company Ltd(1963) held? that :?If? an? act is? void, there? is? in? law? a? nullity. It is not? only? bad but? incurably? bad. There? is? no? need? for? an? order? of? Court to? set? it? aside. It? is? automatically? null? and? void?? without? much? ado,? though? it? is? sometimes convenient? to? have? the? court? declare? it? to? be? so. And? every proceeding? which? is? founded?? on? it is also? bad and? incurably? bad. You cannot put something on nothing and expect it to stay there. It will collapse?. ????

In? conclusion , I? wish? to? state? that? although? I? had? written? severally? on? this?? issue in? the? past , I? have? on? this? occasion? refrained? from?? injecting? my? own? opinion? since? the? matter? is? in? court. It? is?? part? of? the? ethics? of? Journalism? that?? issues? in? court? should? not? be ?discussed? in? the?? media in? order? to?? avert? the?? wrath? of? Judicial? officers? who? may charge? you? for? breaching? the? Law? of? Contempt? of? court. What? I am? doing?? now? is? to?? provide? space? to? report? an? issue? of? public? interest. Nonetheless,? I may? merely? advise? the ??parties? to? decide? whether? the? issue? should? be? settled? out? of? court? or? whether? the?? court? should? handle? the? matter? decisively. However,? for? the? Appellants,? he? who? is? down needs?? fear? no? fall,? since? things? can? only? get? better. On the? side? of? the? Respondents i.e.? the? 27? LGA? Chairmen, it?s? a? time? that? calls? for? sober? reflection. On? the? part? of? the? State? Governor,? there? is? a? need for? the? various? submissions and? Briefs? to? be? filed?? soon? so? that? the? Court? of? Appeal? can? process? this? matter? with? business-like? promptitude.

John Mgbe

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