By: Felix Ikpotor
The governorship ambition of the embattled factional governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State seems to be getting slimmer as the court of appeal sitting in Port Harcourt, Wednesday, struck out another appeal by his group against the judgement of the Rivers State High Court which nullified the congresses conducted by the Chibuike Amaechi’s faction of the party in the state.
The Special Appeal Penal led by Justice CN Uwa while delivering the judgment, upheld the decision of the lower court.
PHSpectator recalls that Justice Chiwendu Nwogu of the Rivers State High Court, on May 30, 2018, nullified all the congresses conducted by the transportation minister, Chibuike Amaechi’s faction of the party.
Justice Nwogu in his ruling said the party disobeyed an earlier order of the High Court of May 11, 2018 which stopped the Amaechi’s faction from conducting congresses in a suit that was instituted by Alhaji Umar and 22 others
The Amaechi’s faction had gone to the Court of Appeal to set aside the nullification of the May 2018 ward and local government congresses it conducted but the Appellant Court in its wisdom struck out the case due to lack of merit
The lead judge while reading the judgment held that it cannot go into the merit of the matter because it might be a mere academic exercise that will not have any effects.
The Judge also described the appeal as a pre-election matter and relied on the decisions of others courts in the matter to struck out the case.
“The case in the lower court is a pre-election matter, we can’t go against the Apex Court decision. Our hands are tied”
The Judge also declared that the appeal lacks competence and that the judgment of the lower court is hereby upheld.
Lawyer to Umar and 22 others, Henry Bello said the judgment automatically nullified the indirect primaries conducted by the Ojukaye Flag Amachree led APC.
Lawyer to Ojukaye Amachree led APC, Wisdom Jerome said they will appeal the matter at the Supreme Court.
Earlier, an application for stay of execution on the order of a Federal High Court against the party was declined by the Appeal Court.
The panel to handle the matter declined to entertain the matter, stating that the application was premature.
The APC faction and its candidates for the 2019 elections, led by the Governorship candidate, Pastor Tonye Cole, had appealed the ruling of the High Court which barred the party from fielding them as candidates for the election.
They had prayed the court to stay execution on the order of the court to enable its candidates participate in the polls.
But when the matter came up, the leader of the Visiting Appeal Panel, Justice C N Uwa, said the application is premature to be heard.
Uwa stated that the court cannot make any order on the matter when appeal on it has not been properly entered.
She added that there was no record to show that appeal has been entered on the matter, urging the parties to go back to the registry to put their houses in order.
