A Federal Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has on Friday, 30th December, 2022, struck out an Application filed by Mr. Chijioke Edeoga who has been claiming and parading himself as the Labour Party governorship candidate for Enugu State.
The appeal filed by Edeoga, seeking to be joined in the ongoing appeal filed by Labour Party against the judgement of the Abuja Federal High Court which nullified the primaries that purportedly produced Edeoga as a candidate and declared same as shady, null and void, was dismissed by the Appeal Court describing it as “incompetent”, time barred” and an “academic exercise lacking in merit”.
The Appeal Court held that the ruling was predicated on the fact that Edoga’s application was made on December 2nd, 2022, which is a period of 11 or 14 days outside section 205 of the Electoral Act which stated that appeals on such matter should be made within 14 days of the judgement of the lower court. The Judge held that no Court has power to grant the prayer of Edeoga in that circumstance as it did not comply with the requisite time frame provided by the extant Electoral Law.
The four presiding Appeal Court Judges in the unanimous judgement, referred to a Supreme Court ruling in a similar case and circumstances which described such late application/appeal as legally ultra vire, incompetent, statute barred and a mere academic exercise.
In further analysis and breakdown of the judgement, since Edeoga was not joined in the matter at the lower court ab initio, and did not apply to be joined, even when there was proof he was aware of the matter before the High Court, but opted instead, to sponsor another political party, to be joined, with an intent to superfluously incumber the court process and delay proceedings in the process, he is statute barred to be joined in the matter at the higher court. On the claim that the High Court judgement affected him, hence his application, the Appeal Court held that Edeoga could not prove how the judgement of the lower court affects him as he did not also produce or attach any evidence including receipts and evidence of waiver to show he purchased the Nomination and Expression of Interest Forms and obtained waiver as required in the party guidelines for nomination of candidates having joined the Labour Party after he had fully participated in the PDP governorship primaries as an aspirant and lost. The Appeal court held that he lacked the locus to apply to be joined in a case he has no direct business with-the Appellant(Capt. Evarest Nnaji (Odengene) in the lawsuit brought before the Federal High court and in which the Defendant (Labour Party) did not deem it necessary to seek his joining.
In his recent appearance at the Parliament, an Urban Radio, Enugu political discussion program, the DG of Capt. Evarest Nnaji(ODENGENE) Governorship Campaign Organization, Okey Ezirigwe, had argued, that nothing showed Mr. Chijioke Edeoga purchased the Expression of Interest and Nomination Form of the Labour Party as neither him nor the party leadership could produce any evidence to the contrary, therefore, not qualified to be cleared as an aspirant to participate in the Labour Party governorship primary.
Recall also, that a Federal High Court in Abuja presided by Justice Evelyn Maha, had on the 9th of November,2022, nullified the Labour Party governorship primaries purportedly held on 4th August 2022, and in which Chijioke Edoga was surreptitiously presented as the one and only contestant, excluding Capt. Nnaji who has proof of the payments of Nomination Form and the required waiver to be returned as a consensus candidate or at least, contest in Labour Party governorship primaries if there were other qualified and cleared candidates.
In court, Capt. Evarest Ede Nnaji (Odengene) produced receipts, his Labour Party membership card and all documented evidence to support his claims. Labour Party tendered no evidence to defend the basis of his exclusion or to support any claim that Edeoga fulfilled conditions to be so cleared as an aspirant for the Primaries .
The Court asked for evidence of the notice of the date of primary. There was none. Labour Party only based their argument on the assumed powers of the party to decide and field any candidate of its choice and owe no one an explanations regardless of any injury such unwholesome decision caused to any complainant. Such is an impunity destined to collapse in any Law Court.
The Electoral Act provides the guidelines of how parties can choose their candidates and Labour intentionally didn’t follow that legal provision in Enugu State.
Under the Act, the placeholder shall voluntarily withdraw from the contest to be replaced. The placeholder is Casmir Agbo, Enugu State Chairman of the party who is also said to be a lawyer. Two lawyers, state and national chairmen, yet there was no evidence the placeholder properly withdrew his place-holding.
These appear to be intentional legal inadequacies left by those compelled to conduct the sham primary that produced Edeoga to fail in court. It failed at the Federal High Court on Wednesday November 9, 2022, when the lower court ruled that a fresh governorship primary should be conducted within two weeks of that judgement. Labour Party rather than conduct the said fresh primary in line with the provisions of the extant Electoral Act (2022) and in accordance with the Federal High Court, Abuja ruling, rushed to the Appeal Court to challenge the court verdict.
However, Capt. Evarest Nnaji (Odengene) also approached the Appeal Court with a cross appeal of four (4) pleas, chief of which was that, since the Federal High Court, Abuja had acknowledged in it’s November 9, 2022 judgement, that the man who allegedly parades himself (Mr. Chijioke Edeoga) as the product of the nullified governorship primary of Labour Party was not a valid aspirant for the party’s governorship ticket in Enugu State, he ought to have been declared by the court in that pronouncement as the only aspirant for the rescheduled primary. This means, in essence, that Mr Chijioke Edeoga cannot participate in the ordered fresh primary for the governorship ticket.
From what could be deduced in all these, Edoga is an unfortunate victim of his own schemings and manipulative stunts as well as victim of Labour Party’s compromised standards in this matter. He was cleverly excluded as a party in the case, the Appeal Court has ruled he cannot appeal, only Labour Party can.
Not preempting the court, however, on the strength of the issues and arguments for consideration, it is unlikely the Appeal Court will give any verdict in the substantive Appeal contrary to the sound and well considered judgment of the lower court.