Rivers APC primary: S’Court strikes out Senator Abe’s appeal

…To hear Kwara APC leadership tussle April 10

Andrew Orolua, Abuja

The Supreme Court sitting in Abuja on Monday struck out an appeal filed by Senator Magnus Abe praying the court to make pronouncement on the proprietary of the direct and indirect primary elections conducted by the APC in the state for the nomination of its candidate for the 2019 general elections.

The apex court struck out the appeal on the grounds that the Notice of Appeal filed by Senator Abe was defective and not in compliance with the Rules of the Court.

Acting CJN, Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad, who delivered the unanimous decision of the 7-man panel of justices of the apex court, held that the Notice of Appeal was incurably defective because it did not contain the names and titles of parties in the matter.

Besides, the acting CJN also held that the Notice of Appeal offended section 285 of the 1999 Constitution because amendment cannot be done to the Notice of Appeal in view of the fact that the 14 days required by law for filing the appeal had expired.

Sen. Abe had approached the court asking it to make clarification on which of the two primary elections conducted in Rivers by APC was authentic in the eyes of the law.

However, the APC through its counsel, Mr. Jibrin Okutekpa (SAN), objected to hearing of the appeal on the grounds that names of appropriate persons affected by the suit were not listed on the Notice of Appeal and thereby making the appeal incompetent and incurably defective.

Justice Muhammad in the ruling, agreed with APC counsel and struck out the appeal on the ground that the notice of Appeal was defective.

The court rejected the plea by Henry Bello that the omission was committed by him and should therefore not be visited on his client, adding that the Notice of Appeal cannot be refiled because the 14 days allowed by law to do so, has expired.

In a related development, the apex court on Monday slated April 10, 2019 to hear the appeal on the leadership tussle rocking the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Kwara State.

The apex court which was prepared to hear the appeal filed by a factional chairman of the party in the state, Hon Ishola Balogun Fulani, at its sitting on Monday, shifted the matter till Wednesday, April 10 due to non-service of hearing notice on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the caretaker chairman of the party in the state, Mr. Bashiru Bolarinwa.

Justice Bode Rhodes Vivour, who presided over the matter on Monday, shifted the hearing date when the registrar of the court announced that both INEC and Bolarinwa were not in court because hearing notice could not be served on them.

The appellant, Fulani through his counsel, Kehinde Kayode Eleja (SAN), had approached the apex court challenging the decision of the lower court which acceded powers to the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, who arbitrarily dissolved the state executive committee of the party when their four-year tenure had not expired.

Fulani, who filed the appeal on behalf of other state executive members of the party, had prayed for a restraining order on Oshiomhole from further according recognition and dealing with Bolarinwa group as the officers of the APC in Kwara State.

The appellant also prayed for further order of the court stopping INEC from accepting nomination of candidates for the 2019 general elections order than the nomination by his group.

It would be recalled that a High Court in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital had, in February given judgment in favour of the appellant but the judgment of the High Court was set aside by the Court of Appeal, Ilorin division on the ground that the case of the appellant has become academic exercise, prompting an appeal to the Supreme Court.

At the resumed hearing on Monday, Eleja drew the attention of the court to the fact that the case must be fully determined between now and Friday, the 12th of April, 2019, being a pre-election natter that has a duration of 60 days in the apex court, which will expire on Friday.

However, counsel to Oshiomhole, Chief Akin Olujinmi (SAN), attempted to convince the court that the matter was not a pre-election matter but a mere dissolution of the state executive, but could not persuade the Court because the APC, in the processes filed at the High Court had admitted it is a pre-election matter.