S/Court On Imo : The Meat and Substance Of Ihedioha’s Matter Were Lost To Time Frame – Justice Nweze

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BY AMOS DUNIA, ABUJA – A Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Centus Chima Nweze, who delivered a dissenting judgment setting aside the January 14, 2020 ruling of the apex court, that removed former Governor Emeka Ihedioha of the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP), from office as Governor of Imo State; has declared that the meat and substance of Ihedioha’s matter were lost to time frame.

Justice Nweze pointedly said that the Supreme Court had once set aside its own earlier judgment and therefore cannot use time frame to extinguish the right of any person.

He therefore declared; “This Court has powers to overrule itself and can revisit any decision not in accordance with justice.”

Nweze said that in his intimate reading of the January 14 judgment, it was clear that unverified votes which Senator Hope Uzodinma credited to himself in the disputed 388 polling units were unjustly added to the All Progressives Congress and Uzodinma and made to replace Ihedioha as governor of Imo state.

Towards this end, Justice Nweze said that the decision of the Supreme Court in the instant matter will continue to haunt the country’s electoral jurisprudence for a long time to come, stressing that without evidence of meeting other constitutional provisions, the apex court clearly misled itself into declaring Uzodinma as governor.

In the words of Justice Nweze; “This Court has a duty of redeeming its image. It is against this background that the finality of the Court cannot extinguish the right of any person.

“I am of the view that this application should succeed. I hereby make an order setting aside the decision of this Court made on January 14, and that the certificate of return issued to the appellant be returned to INEC.

“I also make an order restoring the respondents as winner of the March 9, 2019 Governorship election.

However, the six other Justices of the Supreme Court maintained the position of the Court by affirming Senator Uzodinma as the duly elected governor of Imo state in the March 2019 governorship election in Imo state.

Pointedly, the Supreme Court refused to set aside its judgment that quashed the election of former Governor Ihedioha, saying that it lacked powers to sit on appeal in its own judgment delivered on merit and in accordance with dictates of the law and justice.

The apex court ruled that the request by Ihedioha urging it to set aside its judgment of January 14, 2020 on grounds of nullity is an invitation to the Supreme Court to sit on appeal over its own judgment, which it cannot do.

In the majority ruling that was read by Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, the apex court ruled that granting the request of the applicants would open the flood gate by parties to all kinds of litigations.

It further ruled that by the provision of section 235 of the 1999 Constitution, the decision of the Supreme Court on any judgment based on merit is final and shall not be reviewed once delivered under any guise, except for clerical errors.

Justice Ariwoola said that by Order 8 Rule 16, the general law is that the Supreme Court has no power to alter any judgment adding that such judgment once delivered on merit shall remain forever.

In the words of Justice Ariwoola; “Certainly this court has no inherent power to grant what is being sought. It is beyond the powers of this Court. There is no Constitutional provisions for this court to review its own judgment. To say the least, this court has no competence and indeed lacked power to sit on appeal in its own decision.

“The Finality of the Supreme Court is entrenched in the constitution and inherent power can only be invoked where there is law to do so. This court cannot under any guise alter any judgment under any inherent power, as doing so would bring the court into disrepute and ridicule.

“The application is liable to dismissal and is hereby dismissed for want of jurisdiction and competence.”

The Supreme Court however ruled that parties in the case should bear their cost.

The other five Justices that dismissed the application included the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad, Justices Sylvester Ngwuta, Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, Amina Augie and Mary Uwani Abba-Aji.

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