The Court of Appeal in Abuja, on Friday, reaffirmed Chief Ikechi Emenike, as the duly elected governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abia for the 2023 general election.
In a judgment delivered on three appeal cases before it, the appeal panel led by Justice Peter Olabisi Ige, held that the May 26, 2022 primary which produced Emenike was valid.
APC and Emenike had filed separate appeals challenging the judgment delivered by Justice Binta Nyako upholding a purported direct primary that produced Sampson Uche Ogah.
One of the governorship aspirants, Dan Eke also filed an appeal challenging the judgment of the trial judge that recognised Ogah’s purported candidacy.
But the Appellate Court in the judgments delivered one after the other on Appeal No. CA/ABJ/1258 High Chief Ikechi Emenike Vs Dr Sampson Uche Ogah & 3 Ors; CA/ABJ/1257 APC Vs Dr Sampson Uche Ogah & 3 Ors resolved the appeals in favour of the appellants.
It also held that appeal No. CA/ABJ/1297 filed by Dr Eke was successful.
Justice Ige was concerned that the lower court failed to resolve the issue of jurisdiction, which the appellant court considered germane.
The panel also held that Ogah lacked the locus to challenge the outcome of the party primary since he did not participate in the exercise but instead claimed that he conducted a separate primary which was not sanctioned by his party.
The judgment of the trial court was set aside by the appellate court as it upheld the earlier judgment of the Appeal Court in Owerri which affirmed Emenike’s candidacy.
Justice Ige and other justices of the appellant court held that they were bound by the judgment of Justice Pemu of the Court of Appeal Owerri, saying that Nyako’s judgment cannot displace the judgment of the Appeal Court, Owerri Division.
On the issue of failure to invite address from counsel in the sole issue, she had raised was a breach of fair hearing and therefore resolved it in Emenike’s favour.
The appellate court, therefore, held that the indirect primary conducted by APC in Abia was valid and frowned at the action of Nyako for upholding the purported direct primary of Ogah thereby suggesting that same was ratified by certain state chapter.
In delivering the unanimous verdict, Justice Ige read out the names of the members of the panel sent by the national secretariat of APC to conduct the primary that produced Emenike, affirming that the exercise was valid.
He faulted the report of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which Ogah had used to support his claims, saying that a report by the commission “cannot validate an otherwise invalid primary.
“You cannot place something on nothing and expect it to stand. The INEC report is inchoate and cannot validate the primaries relied on by Ogah,” the Appellate Court held.