The Supreme Court of Nigeria on Friday in Abuja struck out a request by a factional governorship aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ebonyi, Senator Joseph Obinna Ogba, for a review of its final judgment of September 14, 2022 which upheld Chief Chukwuma Odii Ifeanyi as the governorship candidate of the PDP for the state in the 2023 elections.
But in the case of Delta State same Friday, it affirmed the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Chief Sheriff Oborevwori, as the candidate of the PDP for the 2023 governorship election.
In the case of Ebonyi, the apex court presided over by Justice Amina Adamu Augie struck out the request following the dramatic withdrawal of a motion to that effect by Chief Paul Erokoro, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), was counsel to Ogba.
At Friday’s proceedings, Erokoro, had attempted to argue a prayer for the Supreme Court to review its earlier judgment which recognized Ifeanyi as the PDP governorship candidate.
However, following the mood of the court to the request, the senior lawyer beat a retreat and dramatically withdrew processes filed on behalf of his client when it became apparent that the apex court would not yield to the request.
Following the withdrawal, Justice Amina Augie, struck out the request.
Before the withdrawal, counsel to Chukwuma Ifeanyi, Chief Chris Uche, SAN, had vehemently opposed the request of the factional governorship candidate on the grounds that it constituted a gross abuse of the Supreme Court.
Uche, who led a team of senior lawyers in the matter, had prayed the Court to uphold its finality policy as the highest court in the land, adding that any attempt to grant the request of Ogba will not augur well for the judiciary.
The senior lawyer pleaded with the court to turn down the request on the grounds of being frivolous, unmeritorious, and a strange invitation that must not be honoured by the court.
The Supreme Court had on September 14, 2022 in its final judgment in an appeal marked SC/CV/939/2022 affirmed Chukwuma Odii Ifeanyi as the authentic PDP governorship candidate having emerged from a primary election conducted by the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party.
The court had struck out an appeal on the grounds that the issue of nomination of candidates for elective office is an internal affair of political parties and that no court has jurisdiction to entertain it.
However, dissatisfied, Joseph Obinna Ogba returned to the same court seeking a review of the September 14 judgment but was withdrawn by his counsel.
In the Delta matter, Justice Tijjani Abubakar delivered the lead judgement that threw out the case brought by Olorogun David Edevbie before the five-man panel of the Supreme Court led by Justice Amina Augie.
In the lead judgement, Justice Abubakar ruled that the apex court did not deem it fit to set-aside the Court of Appeal’s verdict that upheld Chief Oborevwori as the duly nomination candidate of the PDP.
Edevbie had urged the Supreme Court to uphold the judgment of the Federal High Court which declared him the PDP candidate while Sheriff Orohwedor on his part pleaded with the Apex Court to endorse the Court of Appeal which voided the decision of the high court.