Anambra Guber: Appeal Court declares Ozigbo PDP’s candidate, knocks lawyers for forum shopping

Anambra Guber: Appeal Court declares Ozigbo PDP’s candidate, knocks lawyers for forum shopping

The Court of Appeal, Abuja, Friday, declared Valentine Oziigbo as the authentic candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the forthcoming November 6 governorship election in Anambra State.

The appellate court made the declaration while delivering judgment in two appeals filed against the judgment of Justice Obiora Nwabunike of a High Court of Anambra State in Awka, Anambra State, which recognised Senator Ugochukwu Uba as candidate of the November 6 governorship poll.

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Both Ozigbo and the PDP in two separate suits marked: CA/AW/223/2021 and CA/AW/234/2021 had approached the appellate court to challenged the decision of Justice Nwabunike, on the grounds that the lower court erred in law when it arrived at a decision affirming Uba as candidate of the PDP in the forthcoming election.

While the PDP in its own suit argued that it conducted its primary in accordance with the provisions of the law and its guidelines on June 26 at the Professor Dora Akunyuli Women Center, Ozigbo claimed it emerged candidate of the party at that same primary haven won majority of the votes cast at the primary.

They therefore urged the court to set aside the judgment of Justice Nwabunike and declared the primary held at the Dora Akunyuli Women Centre as legal, lawful and constitutional and that the candidate from that primary be declared as candidate of the PDP in the November 6 governorship election.

Delivering judgment in the two appeals on Friday, a three member panel of the Court of Appeal, held that the appeals were meritorious and after allowing them, went ahead to set aside the decision of Justice Nwabunike of a High Court of Anambra State which had earlier declared Senator Uba as PDP’s candidate.

The panel in the unanimous decision delivered by President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem, held that the primary election held at the professor Dora Akunyuli Women Center, Awka, which produced Ozigbo as candidate, was conducted in line with the law and the PDP guidelines.

While declaring as an aberration the parallel primary held at saint Paul University, the Court of Appeal berated Justice Nwabunike for sitting as an appellate court over the judgment of Justice Olukayode Adeniyi of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court.

The panel faulted Justice Nwabunike for not only rubber stamping the decision of Justice Adeniyi but also sitting as an appeal over a court of coordinate jurisdiction.

Justice Adeniyi of an FCT High Court had in a judgement ordered the Chukwudi Umeaba faction to conduct the June 26 primary which produced Uba, haven sacked the PDP leadership in the state.

Similarly, Justice Nwabunike in his own judgment enforced the earlier decision of Justice Adeniyi, recognising Umeaba’s faction as the authentic leadership of the PDP in Anambra State to conduct primary for the November 6 governorship poll.

But in their judgment, the three member panel held that it was convinced that the primary conducted by the PDP at the Dora Akunyuli Women Center was valid haven done in compliance with the law and party guidelines.

The panel faulted the primary held at the Saints Paul University held same day, which produced Uba because it was contrary to law and the party’s guidelines, adding that INEC in line with the law supervised only the primary at Professor Dora Akunyuli Women Center.

While accusing politicians of forum shopping, the panel wondered why a litigant would take a matter which happened in Anambra before a court in the FCT and then return to Awka to seek enforcement of Adeniyi’s judgment.

The panel took turn to take swipes on lawyers who enable litigants to abuse the court’s processes, stressing that relevant bodies like the NJC and NBA must take decisive actions against culprits.

Justice Dongban-Mensem, while urging INEC not to allow itself to be distracted in preparation for the election, advised the commission to wait for the decision of the final court in the land and not hurriedly rushed to comply with the judgment of trial court.

After granting the two appeals and setting aside the judgment of Justice Nwabunike delivered on July 19, 2021, the court accordingly ordered Uba to pay Ozigbo and PDP N10 million each as cost of the litigations.