Sheriff’s faction wants Supreme Court to set aside Appeal Court judgement
Senator Ali Modu Sheriff-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has asked the Supreme Court to stay all proceedings that emanated from the special panel constituted by the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, to hear all appeals from the Ondo State chapter of the party, pending the determination of its appeal at the apex court.
The appellants, in the notice of appeal, filed by their counsel, Bela E. Nwufor, at the Supreme Court, November 11, 2016, challenged the decision of the panel that allowed the application filed by Eyitayo Jegede, challenging the judgement of the Federal High Court that ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to remove his name and replace it with that of Jimoh Ibrahim.
They also challenged the decision of the panel in which it refused to disband itself.
The appellants, in the notice of appeal, want an order of the court to stay all further proceedings and further hearing in appeal No. CA/A/551C/2016: between Eyitayo Jegede and Prince Biyi Poroye and 10 others pending the hearing and determination of the appeal by the appellants against the rulings delivered by the special panel of the court of appeal, presided over by Justice Ibrahim Salauwa on November 10, 2016.
The appellants contended that the learned justices erred in law when they held that the decision of the President, Court of Appeal (PCA), to constitute a special panel to preside over the Ondo appeals was not against the normal administrative functions of her office.
They argued, among others, that the three-member tribunal, led by Justice Ibrahim Salauwa, erred in law and was in breach of Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution in its decision that allowed the 1st respondent (Jegede) leave to appeal against the decision of the Federal High Court of October 14.
Prince Biyi Poroye asked the Supreme Court to, among others, set aside the verdict of the court of Appeal and grant all his reliefs as contained in his petition.
Poroye and the other eight appellants also argued that the panel was wrong to regard the unchallenged depositions as speculative when there was nothing on their record that made the depositions far-fetched whereby the existence of the special panel confirmed such.
The appellants further prayed the Supreme Court to allow the appeal, and to also set aside the ruling of the lower court refusing the application of the appellants for setting aside the decision of the president of the court of appeal to set up a special panel of the Justices of the Court of Appeal for the hearing of the motion of Jegede against the decisions of Justice Okon Abang of October 14, 2016.
Also in another appeal filed by Prince Biyi Poroye against Senator Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi and three others, at the Supreme Court, the appellants prayed the court to take judicial notice of the appellants dissatisfaction with the decision of the Court of Appeal of November 10, 2016.
