MIXED reactions, among legal minds,
yesterday trailed INEC’s issuance of certificate
of returns to Uche Ogah, following Monday’s
judgement by a Federal High Court, Abuja,
which ruled against Governor Okezie Ikpeazu
of Abia State. While some of the lawyers
argued that INEC merely obeyed a court order,
others contended that the action of the
electoral commission was illegal.
Uche Ogah
Let the court decide — Sagay
In his remarks, Chairman, Presidential
Advisory Committee against Corruption, Prof
Itse Sagay, SAN, said the matter should be
decided by the courts.
Sagay said: “This is an unprecedented case
because it has never happened in law. The
only similar case was the Amaechi vs.
Omehia case which was taken to the Supreme
Court.
In that instance, Amaechi was the elected
candidate of the party but Omehia went ahead
to contest and win the election. At the end of
the day, the Supreme Court ruled that Amaechi
was the candidate of the party and should be
the governor. In this case, Ogah came second
during the primaries while Ikpeazu came first.
I think the courts will be ones to decide.”
It is illegal, null and void — Ozekhome
Ozekhome said: "The action is illegal, null and
void. The action is unconstitutional, illegal and
of no effect whatsoever.
Judgment is laughable
"There is what you call doctrine of lis pendens
which means that once matter has been
submitted to Court and the parties are aware
that one of the parties is already in court or
on an appeal, then parties should refrain from
taking any steps that will be detrimental to the
other party in the matter.
"This judgement is not going to stand for so
many reasons, from what I have read in the
last few days, a judge who is not a member of
the Election Petition Tribunal is annulling the
election of a governor after the governor has
been successfully elected and after he has
fought his election up to the Supreme and the
Supreme Court validated his election.
"To me, the judgement given by my learned
judge is laughable and I can assure you,
neither the Appeal Court nor the Supreme
Court will uphold that funny judgement."
Ikpeazu should show that INEC was served –
Ngige
In his remarks, Chief Emeka Ngige,SAN, said:
‘’Based on the facts that I have, INEC may be
right if only they have not been served a
notice of appeal and stay of execution by
Ikpeazu. But if they have been served they
cannot issue the Certificate of Return. The
burden is now on Ikpeazu to show that INEC
has been served a notice of appeal and stay
of execution, in which case, he can remain in
office.”
Action can lead to chaos —Babatunde
Fashanu, SAN.
Fashanu said, “This is no rocket science at
all. If the incumbent has indeed appealed, he
is deemed by law to still be the governor until
his appeal is determined. Because of his right
to appeal within 21 days of the judgement of
the Election Tribunal, he is also deemed to
remain in office until the expiration of the 21
days even if he did not file an appeal (see
Section 143 of the Electoral Act) .
“In my view, INEC should have waited for the
appeal to be determined before issuing the
certificate in the event the appeal fails. The
action is precipitous and pre-emptive and can
lead to chaos. The certificate should be
withdrawn immediately.
It’s wrong, says Adeshina, ex-NBA scribe
Former national secretary of Nigerian Bar
Association (NBA), Deacon Dele Adeshina,
SAN, said it is wrong to issue the certificate
while appeal is pending. As long as appeal
has been filed against the judgement and
there is stay of execution, it will be totally
wrong and illegal for INEC to issue certificate
of return to another person. It will be
premature for INEC to execute the judgement.
INEC’s action, affront on judiciary — Agbaje
Fred Agbaje, rights activist and constitutional
lawyer said anything goes in a free society.
He added: “INEC’s action was an affront on
judiciary. Since, there is an appeal, the
commission needs to have waited for the
outcome of court of appeal on the matter
before taking any step. INEC is supposed to
wait for court of appeal to decide the fate of
the man. The action of the commission is
illegal and cannot stand the test of law. What
the commission did was to donate power to
the opponent of the governor, what if the court
of appeal upturns the judgement? The action
of the commission is unacceptable in law and
it is illegal."
INEC complied with a court order — Ubani
Mr Monday Ubani, Ex NBA, Ikeja chairman
said, INEC complied with court order. INEC
complied with the order of the court. We are
also expecting the chief judge of the state to
swear in Ogar, because that is the order of
court.
“I hear a particular high court in Osisioma
Ngwa issued an injunction, The Osisioma
court is a court of co-ordinate jurisdiction with
the Federal High Court. If there is any order to
be made and obeyed, it should be an order
from a higher court. When was the case filed
and when was it assigned and served, even if
it is on ex-parte. You can only upturn the
existing order of a court if its a higher court.
Appeal no excuse to disobey court order —
Igbinedion
An Edo State-born rights activist and legal
practitioner, Dele Igbinedion shared a contrary
view on the matter. He said once there is a
judgment, it must be obeyed by the parties.
An appeal, he said, was not an excuse to
disobey court order.
“It is the right of the governor to appeal
against the judgment but that does not mean
that the judgment was not in existence, the
moment the court made pronouncement on
the matter, the judgment has comes into
existence."
Mr Kunle Ogunba, SAN
I must state first and foremost state that I
don’t have the full facts of the matter. But the
question I will like to ask and have an answer
is: Did his lawyers file for stay of execution of
the judgment? I read that they have appealed,
but did they also go back to the lower court to
ask for a stay? I know that an appeal does not
act as a stay in all cases, so, was an
application for stay filed, because there is no
law stopping the beneficiary of a judgment
from enjoying the fruit of his labour. But if an
application for stay was filed and served on
parties, I believe it will be wrong for the
authorities involved not to wait for the
outcome of appeal."
It’s a conspiracy, says Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa
Adegboruwa who alleged conspiracy by the All
Progressives Congress, APC, to play the case
to its advantage, said: “There is said to be a
grand plan, now in its well advanced stage, to
swear in Ogah, who will then subsequently
defect to the ruling APC, on the excuse of the
factionalization within the PDP between Modu
Sheriff and Ahmed Markafi.
"On June 29, 2016, the sitting governor of
Abia State, Mr Okezie Ikpeazu, filed an appeal
against the said judgment, together with an
application for a stay of execution of the
judgment of court. The said application is yet
to be heard or determined by the court, the
consequence of which is that the judgment of
court cannot be enforced.
"It is well settled in our laws, up to the
Supreme Court, that once an appeal has been
filed against a judgment and the appellant has
also filed an application to stay the execution
of the said judgment, that judgment cannot be
enforced, until the application for a stay of
execution has been heard and determined. It
is a dangerous precedent that the APC led
government is setting for our democracy, if it
is lying in wait and prodding INEC to violate
the basic tenets of democracy, which is
respect for the rule of law and due process.”

www.vanguardngr.com/2016/07/abia-governorship-lawyers-divided-inecs-issuance-certificate-ogah/

I am shocked to hear that one justice okon abang who is not a member of the election petition tribunal went ahead to nullify an election and declare someone else winner and returned elected.