The Supreme Court has said that Chief Edozie Njoku was at no point a party in the suit between Chief Jude Okeke Vs All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) & 3 Ors.
The court made this known in a statement by the Director, Press and Information, Dr Akande Festus, on Thursday, while reacting to what he tagged Misconception over Supreme Court’s judgement on APGA leadership tussle delivered on 14th October, 2021.
Chief Edozie Njoku had previously called on the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to accord him full recognition, following the judgement of the Supreme Court on the party’s leadership tussle.
Njoku who petitioned the Supreme Court to revisit what he called “the error” it its earlier ruling on the matter, noted that apex court did the needful on May 9 this year, lamenting however, that that INEC is yet to obey the judgment 34 days after it was given.
However, Supreme court in its statement titled: Clarification On The Misconception Of Supreme Court Judgment On APGA Leadership Crisis”, made available to TheNigerialawyer, noted that it’s all a misconception peddled by some members of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).
“To keep the record straight, we wish to state that the appeal in respect of party leadership of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), which was filed in the Supreme Court against the judgment of Court of Appeal, Kano Division by Chief Jude Okeke, as SC/CV/686/2021 and SC/CV/687/2021, contained the following parties: Chief Jude Okeke (Appellant) and 1. All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA); 2. Chief Victor Ike Oye; 3. Alhaji Rabiu Garba Aliu; 4. Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as Respondents.
“It is worthy of note that the appeal arose from a Primary Election conducted by the party on the 31st day of May, 2019 at Owerri, Imo State, in which the 3rd Respondent (as above) was elected Deputy National Chairman (North). The said 3rd Respondent (Alhaji Rabiu Garba Aliyu), by Originating Summons, commenced an action claiming among other reliefs, to be automatically recognized as the Chairman of the Party on the ground that the Chairman who was then suspended had been replaced by someone other than him (3rd Respondent). The trial Court dismissed the suit and confirmed Chief Jude Okeke as the Party’s Chairman.
“However, the 3rd Respondent, unsatisfied with the judgment, appealed to the Court of Appeal, Kano Judicial Division. At that point, the 1st and 2nd Respondents above sought for and were granted leave to be joined as interested parties at the Court of Appeal.
“However, the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction, as all the issues in contention took place in Imo State and not Jigawa State. Being unsatisfied with the judgment of the Court of Appeal, Chief Jude Okeke appealed to the Supreme Court against the aforementioned parties.
“It was at this stage that Chief Edozie Njoku brought an application to be joined as interested party in the matter. However, on the date of the hearing, the whole appeal was dismissed and all the motions for joinder were struck out, having been overtaken by events.
“That decision was based on the premise that such action had been severally adjudged to be unjusticeable by virtue of the varied subsisting Supreme Court judgments in respect of intra-party disputes.
“In view of the foregoing, we wish to make it abundantly clear that the Judgement of this Honourable Court contained only the Parties listed above; and that Chief Edozie Njoku was not added as a party at any point. Thus, any other Judgment/Order containing parties different from the aforementioned did not emanate from the Supreme Court and should therefore be disregarded.
Credit: The Nigeria Lawyers