The Court of Appeal in Abuja has been urged
to reverse the decision by its President,
Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, to constitute a
fresh panel to hear appeals relating to the
dispute over the governorship candidate of
the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo
State. The election is on November 26.
The request is contained in a motion filed
yesterday by members of the executive of the
PDP in the six Southwest states (loyal to Ali
Modu Sheriff), led by Biyi Poroye (factional
Chairman of the Ondo PDP).
They also asked the court to disband the
panel, comprising Justices Ibrahim Salauwa,
Ignatius Igwe Aguba and George Mbaba,
allegedly set up in breach of the applicants’
right to fair hearing guaranteed under Section
36 of the Constitution.
Poroye and others prayed the court to order
the return of the case files relating to the
appeals and the application for leave to
appeal as an interested party (against the
decision of the Federal High Court of 14th
October 2016 in suit No. FHC/ABJ/
CS/395/2016) – filed by Eyitayo Jegede
(factional PDP candidate of the Ondo PDP)
“to the Registry of the Court of Appeal to take
its normal course and turn in the docket of
the court.”
The appeals are: CA/A/551/2016 filed by
Ahmed Makarfi and Ben Obi against Biyi
Poroye and 10 others and CA/A/551A/2016
filed by Clement Faboyede and another
against 10 others; CA/A551B/2016 filed by
the PDP against Biyi Poroye and 9 others and
CA/A/551C/2016 filed by Eyitayo Jegede
against Prince Biyi Poroye and 10 others
They argued that not only did the President of
the Court of Appeal act without hearing from
them, the case, being a pre-election matter
did not warrant any urgency to require the
constitution of a special panel.
They added that those who filed the appeals
against the June 29 and October 14, 2016
decisions of Justice Okon Abang of the
Federal High Court, Abuja were not parties in
the cases leading to the decisions.
The applicants also argued that no others
were made against any of them (those behind
the new appeals) and that they (the
applicants), who were plaintiffs in the suits,
were not informed when the President of the
Court of Appeal acted solely on the request by
the appellants to constitute the panel on the
grounds of urgency.
They have also filed a motion before the
Supreme Court, seeking a stay of all
proceedings before the Court of Appeal in
relation to the appeals pending the
determination of the two appeals they filed on
October 31, which have entered and given
number: SC/914/2016 and SC/915/2016.
The motion filed by two members of the party,
Benson Akingboye and Ehiozuwa Agbonayiwa
particularly seeks stay of ”all further
proceedings and further hearing in CA/
ABJ/402A/2016 filed on behalf of the PDP by
a lawyer engaged by the Ahmed Makarfi-led
faction of the party’s leadership.
They hinged the motion on, among others,
that it was wrong to allow the Court of Appeal
to proceed with the appeals when they have
valid appeals before the Supreme Court, which
challenged the jurisdiction of the Court of
Appeal.
“As the first and second respondents in the
lower court, they (Akingboye and Agbonayiwa)
challenged by way of preliminary objection the
validity of the appeal which originated the
appeal at the court below.
“Apart from the said objection, there arose in
the court below the issue of representation
for the Peoples Democratic Party as two
counsel laid conflicting claims to being the
counsel authorized by the said party to act for
it in this appeal.
“Neither the said preliminary objections of the
applicants herein nor the said issue of which
particular legal practitioner is authori|sed to
represent the PDP was resolved before the
court below fixed the substantive appeal for
hearing.
“By fixing the substantive appeal for hearing,
the court below thereby postponed the ruling
or decision on it until the hearing of the whole
appeal or case.
“The interlocutory appeal is capable of
disposing of, or terminating, the substantive
appeal.
“This application could not be first brought at
the court below due to the fact that the
appeal had been entered at the Supreme
Court when it was filed,” they said.
The appeal at the Supreme Court, filed on
October 31, 2016 by Akingboye and
Agbonayiwa, is against the October 29, 2016
decision by the former panel of the Court of
Appeal, led by Justice Jumai Sankey in which
it ordered accelerated hearing in the appeals.
They raised four grounds in their notice of
appeal, the first being that the Justices erred
in law by their failure to first determine vital
issue of jurisdiction raised in their (the
appellants’) preliminary objection that there is
no valid notice of appeal filed in the court
below.
The appellants faulted the former panel of the
Court of Appeal for fixing the substantive
Appeal for hearing when the issue of which
counsel to represent the PDP (in whose name
the appeal was filed) had not been resolved.
They also faulted the Sankey-led panel for
granting a relief in the motion for accelerated
hearing of the case in the court below, which
the motion was defective and devoid of
address for service.
No date has been fixed for hearing of the
appeal filed for the appellant by B.E.I. Nwofor
(SAN).

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