.Give Different Interpretations of Supreme Court Judgments
Despite two judgments of the Supreme Court concerning the leadership of the All Progressive Congress, APC, in Imo State, peace is still far from the party as the two major factions involved in the squabble are laying claims to the state executive of the party.
Since early 2019 the Dan Nwafor led executive of the party was dissolved to give way for a caretaker committee under Prince Marcon Nlemigbo, schisms have been rocking the party leading to the Supreme Court giving two different judgments on the state exco.
Trumpeta learnt that even when it was believed that the two recent Supreme Court Judgments have put to rest the matter, fresh trouble has opened as the present state exco led by Dr MacDonald Kelechi Ebere and ousted one under Dan Nwafor are still laying claims to the throne.
After challenging his sack at the appellate court and going ahead to win the cases at the Appeal court before that of Supreme Court which was decided on May 27, 2022, the Nwafor group has insisted they are in charge and all actions of the Ebere team are illegal, null and void.
To counter the May 27,2022 apex court ruling that restored Nwafor, the Ebere state exco is relying on the latest judgment of the same Supreme Court to remain in office.
The Ebere exco in a statement while confirming their continued stay in office disclosed that the latest judgment setting aside an earlier ruling by an Abuja High Court which recognized Nwafor is a welcome development.
A statement from Cajetan Duke, the publicity secretary of APC group of Ebere led exco states; The All Progressives Congress, APC, Imo State has received with profound joy, the landmark judgment of the Supreme Court affirming the election of Hon. MacDonald Kelechi Ebere as the rightful chairman of the APC in Imo State.
This followed the majority judgment of the apex court setting aside an earlier ruling by an Abuja High Court, which recognized Mr Dan Nwafor as the chairman, an action which the national leadership of our party challenged up to the supreme court.
Recall that Dan Nwafor through one Evans Enwerem, had challenged the dissolution of Imo APC executive committee from the ward to state in the run-up to the 2019 general election on account of gross abuse of office and anti-party activities.
However, in the Supreme Court judgment read by Justice Adamu Jauro on behalf of four other justices, it was held that the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, lacked jurisdiction to have heard the suit ab initio.
“The trial court lacked the territorial jurisdictional competence to have entertained the suit in the first place, hence rendering the decision it reached a nullity,” the judgment read
The Supreme Court went further thus: “The law is settled that a suit should be filed in the High Court of the state in which the facts constituting the cause of action occurred that is the High Court of the state in which the events occurred”.
It further held that for the first respondent to have left Imo State, where the events in dispute occurred and rushed to Abuja to file the suit amounted to” forum shopping and a gross abuse of court processes”.
The Supreme Court therefore struck out the appeal and the suit together with the processes filed right from the trial court.
“Beyond the participation of Imo delegates at the just concluded national convention led by Hon Macdonald Ebere as the only recognized state chairman, this judgment has finally sealed and laid to rest the question of the authentic chairman of the APC in the state.
“While we celebrate the judgment, we equally commend our party men and women for their rare comportment and discipline in the face of unwarranted provocation by persons on a hatchet job to undermine the credibility and popularity of our great party. Finally, light has taken its glory over darkness”
However, while dismissing the position of the Ebere led exco to insist on being the authentic exco, the Nwafor team reacted to insist that it remains the real exco adding that Ebere’s claim is extreme falsehood.
According to the Micheal Anyanwu who is the Ag. Publicity Secretary of the Nwafor faction “Supreme Court has only affirmed and recognized Dan Nwafor and his state executive committee as lawful and duly elected whose tenure still subsists till July 31st, 2022 and never stated anything to the contrary.
The statement in possession of Trumpeta from the Nwafor faction further warned the Ebere team and supporters to desist from making mockery of the Supreme Court and subjecting APC to public ridicule as well as insulting sensibilities of people of the state.
In a lengthy reaction to the latest Supreme Court judgment Ebere exco is laying claim to legitimize its stay, Nwafor and co write; “our attention has been drawn to a certain piece of phoney information being circulated obviously by political charlatans which claimed that the Supreme Court of Nigeria has affirmed the election of a non- existent Macdonald Ebere-led State Executive Committee.
Ordinarily, we had preferred not to dignify the impostors spreading the falsehood with our response, but for members of our party, teeming supporters and the general public who have continued to inundate our secretariat with inquiries, we chose to make this clarification.
The information, to say the least, is not only criminal, untrue and embarrassing but has proven strongly that Macdonald Ebere, his shameless sponsors and their co-travelers are hellbent on making mockery of the country’s Apex Court while also subjecting our great party, APC, to public ridicule.
The charade and blatant falsehood by this notorious group must stop forthwith as it is insulting the sensibilities of Imo people and the general public all at once.
It would be recalled that on the 27th of May, 2022, the apex Court in Nigeria delivered a landmark judgment affirming Honourable Daniel Nwafor-led state executive Committee as the authentic, lawful, duly elected, properly constituted and legally recognized executive and leadership of the party in Imo state.
The judgment was greeted with a wide ovation across Imo state and beyond not only because of its popular acknowledgment to be in uncompromising defense of the nation’s democracy, rule of law and justice system but for the fact that it also laid to perpetual rest the legal tussle of leadership in the Imo state chapter of the All Progressives Congress.
Delving a bit into the historical account of the legal leadership tussle and how that matter had since been laid to complete rest, an FCT High Court, Abuja had on the 14th of August, 2018 given a judgment granting perpetual injunction in favour of Daniel Nwafor-led Imo APC State Executive Committee after an opponent at the party’s congress chairmanship election in the state, Evan Enwerem, challenged the outcome of the state congress which produced Honourable Nwafor as the chairman of APC in Imo state. He also sued APC National as a Defendant.
In its considered judgment, the FCT High Court, Abuja while recognizing Honourable Daniel Nwafor as the authentic and duly elected chairman, ruled that the APC including its the National Executive Committee (NEC) and the National Working Committee (NWC) cannot truncate the tenure of the Ward, Local government area and State Executives in Imo State under any guise until the expiration of our valid and lawful tenure which is due on July 31st 2022.
Dissatisfied with the judgment, curiously, the national leadership of the party approached the same court on November 9th 2019, for it to reverse itself which the Court declined and struck out the application as an abuse of Court process, and awarded One Hundred Thousand Naira (N100,000) in Chief Nwafor’s favour.
Still discontented, the party’s national leadership again approached the FCT High Court, Abuja, this time requesting for extension of time to appeal against the Judgment which favoured Honourable Daniel Nwafor-led State Executive Committee. In the judgment delivered on the 16th of July 2021, the same Court repudiated their application, and ordered them to appeal the judgment instead, and they did.
By the time the national leadership of APC had approached the Court of Appeal, their appeal was already time barred. Hence, the appellate Court on the 9th of November 2021 threw away their request for extension of time to appeal the judgment of the FCT High Court and again upheld the judgment in favour of Honourable Daniel Nwafor-led State Executive Committee.
Still disgruntled by the outcome at the Appeal Court, the party’s national leadership proceeded to the Supreme Court to further appeal against the ruling of the appellate Court. And in its landmark judgment on the 27th of May 2022, the apex Court finally upheld the judgments recognizing Honourable Daniel Nwafor and his State Executive Committee as the only authentic, lawful, duly elected and properly constituted executive of APC in Imo State while jettisoning the party’s request for extension of time to appeal against our 14th August 2018 FCT High Court Abuja Judgment.
It is also pertinent for purpose of further clarity to inform that since the national leadership of APC began going to court against Honourable Daniel Nwafor and his State Executive Committee in Imo state, they have not appealed against the August 14th FCT High Court Judgment which recognizes Honourable Daniel Nwafor as the authentic and duly elected chairman, and maintains that the party has no powers to terminate his tenure under any guise, and that of his Ward, Local Government Area and State Executives until the expiration of their valid and lawful tenure.
All they have been doing throughout the litigation process was to get the Courts’ approval for extension of time to appeal against our legitimate judgment which they failed in all courts up to the Supreme Court.
Therefore, there is no judgment from the Supreme Court or anywhere on the face of the earth that has affirmed the election of any other State Executive Committee of Imo APC except that under the competent, prolific and dynamic leadership of Honourable Daniel Nwafor which tenure still subsists till July 31st 2022.
Members of our party, our teeming supporters and the general public are urged to jettison the falsehood from the pit of hell making the round that the Supreme Court affirmed the election of one Macdonald Ebere-led state executive committee. That information is unfounded and misleading, and exists only in the figment of the imagination of the perpetrating impostors whose aim is to create confusion in our party, insult the sensibilities of the general public and make mockery of our judiciary.
