The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed an application by Emeka Ihedioha of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) seeking to be issued a certificate of return as rightful Governor of Imo State.
Ihedioha told the apex court that Governor Hope Uzodinma wasn’t qualified to run in the first place.
In a ruling delivered by Justice Tijjani Abubakar, the apex court dismissed the application for lacking in merit and described it as unnecessary and vexatious.
The Court also imposed a fine of N40 million on human rights activists and constitutional lawyer, Mike Ozekhome (SAN) for filing a frivolous, vexatious and irritating motion before the court in respect of the Imo state governorship tussle decided since 2019.
Ozekhome was fined for bringing a motion before the Apex Court seeking to revalidate the suit that removed Emeka Ihedioha as Governor of Imo State in 2019.
The Senior lawyer was ordered in a ruling by Justice Tijjani Abubakar to personally pay the N40 million fine to four respondents he dragged before the Court.
Those to be paid are the Action Peoples Party (APP), Uche Nnadi, Uche Nwosu and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
In the motion considered to be frivolous by the Court, Ozekhome had asked the Court for a consequential order to compel INEC to issue a fresh Certificate of Return to Ihedioha to enable him to spend a four-year tenure as Governor of Imo state
His grouse was that the incumbent governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma unlawfully spent the four years which Ihedioha ought to spend.
Ozekhome in the motion claimed, among others that the All Progressives Congress (APC) had no candidate in the 2019 Imo Governorship election, hence, Uzodinmma ought not to have been made governor on the platform of APC.
However, the Apex Court dismissed the motion on the ground that it has no jurisdiction to entertain such a motion.
Justice Abubakar held in the ruling that the request was strange, frivolous, baseless, unwarranted, vexatious and irritating.
He further held that the motion was a calculated design to demonise the Supreme Court.
….Details later.
READ ALSO FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
