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Abia Governorship Tussle: Appeal Court Dismisses Otti And KOWA Candidate’s Appli - Politics - Nairaland

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Abia Governorship Tussle: Appeal Court Dismisses Otti And KOWA Candidate’s Appli by alawi5k: 7:03pm On Aug 06, 2016
Abia Governorship Tussle: Appeal
Court dismisses Otti and KOWA
candidate’s applications to be joined in
Ikpeazu/Ogah suit.

The Court of Appeal, Abuja Division,
yesterday dismissed applications by the
governorship candidates of the All
Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Dr.
Alex Otti, and KOWA party, Mr. Dan
Onyeonagu, seeking to join in the Abia
State governorship case before the
appellate court.
The court described the two applicants as
“meddlesome interlopers, busy bodies,
aliens and strangers” to the dispute
between Governor Ikpeazu and Mr.
Samson Ogah. The court said they cannot
have interest recognisable in law in the
domestic affairs of the respondents.
The panel of the court, led by Justice
Abubakar Dati Yahaya, in a unanimous
judgment, held that the two applicants
failed to establish their interest in the
internal affairs of the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP).The court held that allowing
the applicants to join the dispute would
amount to attempting to change the
nature of the suit from intra-party to
inter-party, which was not an issue before
the court.
Justice Yahaya, while delivering the
judgment, held that the subject of
litigation between Ikpeazu and Ogah, who
are members of the PDP, was limited to
the party’s primary election conducted on
December 8, 2014 and that the two
applicants, being members of different
political parties, have no locus standi to
question the primary election of the PDP.
The Judge also held that the applicants
failed to give circumstantial reasons to
sway the court to exercise its judicial
discretion in their favour.The appellate
court, among others, also held that the
applicants failed to transmit the
proceedings of the trial court, the Federal
High Court, Abuja, to the Court of Appeal,
where their interest was supposed to
have been established, but merely relied
on affidavit depositions to join the legal
tussle at the appeal court.
Justice Yahaya further held that from the
documents placed before the court, the
applicants were not deprived of anything
belonging to them, since they did not
participate in the PDP primary election,
adding that nothing has been taken away
from them with the outcome of the said
election.
“From the way the case of the plaintiff
was coughed, I do not see how the
interest of the applicants can come in the
primary election of another party, except
if they want the dispute to metamorphose
into inter-party dispute.
“In totality, the applicants did not
establish any legal rights to be joined as
parties in the dispute and as such. They
have no locus standi to dabble into PDP
affairs. “In short, they are meddlesome
interlopers and their appeals lacked merit
and are hereby dismissed with cost of
N50,000 to each of the three
respondents,” the court held.
A Federal High Court in Abuja had on June
27, this year nullified Ikpeazu’s election
after holding that he submitted false
information regarding his tax clearance
certificate, as alleged by Ogah. Justice
Okon Abang also ordered the
Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) to issue Ogah a
certificate of return.
The main appeal was, however,
adjourned to August 9, this year when the
court would hear all applications and the
main appeal together. Ikpeazu, in his
notice of appeal filed by Adegboyega
Awomolo (SAN), raised five grounds of
appeal upon, asking the Court of Appeal
to set aside the judgment and orders of
the high court.
The governor said the lower court lacked
the power to order him to vacate office.
The governor said the only power,
authority and order exercisable by the
lower court was to disqualify the
candidate from contesting the election,
based on section 31(6) of the Electoral Act
2010.
He also faulted the Judge when he held
that he did not pay his tax for the years
2011, 2012 and 2013, at when due, when
he was a public officer whose tax
deduction was under Pay As You Earn
(PAYE) scheme, where tax deductions
were from the source of his monthly
salary by the tax authorities who issued
all the tax receipts and certificates.
He said that the Abia State Board of
Internal Revenue Service that issued him
the tax certificates had not declared the
certificates forged and that the court did
not invite the issuing authorities to give
evidence in the course of the trial.
Ikpeazu said Ogah was not a staff of the
revenue authority and no staff of the
board testified that the tax certificates
were forged. He said the Judge violated
his right to fair hearing by embarking on
judicial investigation without giving him
the opportunity to address the court on
the issue and the Judge had no duty to
investigate the contents of documents
dumped on the court in the recess of his
chambers with a view to finding for the
plaintiff. Meanwhile, the PDP has also
rejected the judgment and filed a
separate appeal, saying the trial court
erred in law when it held that it had
jurisdiction to hear the suit.
www.newsexpressngr.com/news/26793-Abia-Governorship-Tussle-Appeal-Court-dismisses-Otti-and-KOWA-candidates-applications-to-be-joined-in-IkpeazuOgah-suit
Re: Abia Governorship Tussle: Appeal Court Dismisses Otti And KOWA Candidate’s Appli by bobestman(m): 7:08pm On Aug 06, 2016
Nice move.We want peace in Abia and not confusion.

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