ABUJA – The Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal is set to decide who should be the flag-bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the Ondo governorship election scheduled for Saturday. ADVERTISING inRead invented by Teads The Justice Ibrahim Saulawa led three-man Special Panel of the appellate court has fixed 12noon today to deliver Judgment on the appeal that was lodged by one of the contenders for the PDP governorship ticket, Mr. Eyitayo Jegede, SAN. The Supreme Court had on Tuesday, cleared the coast for the appellate court to deliver the verdict which it suspended on November 18. The apex court, in a unanimous ruling by a five-man panel of Justices led by the Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, declined to disband the Special Panel constituted by President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, to resolve the Ondo PDP dispute. Aside dismissing motions to stay proceedings of the appellate court, filed by six chieftains of the PDP in the South West led by Chairman of the party in Ondo State, Prince Biyi Poroye, the Supreme Court, awarded a cost of N1million each to the three Justices of the appellate court. Poroye and his group had joined the three appellate court Justices, Salauwa, Igwe Aguba and George Mbaba, as 5th to 7th Respondents in the appeal before the apex court. The Acting CJN, Justice Onnoghen who delivered the lead ruling, ordered that counsel to the appellants, Chief Beluolisa Nwufor, SAN, should personally pay the cost from his pocket. The apex court further ordered the appellants to pay N500, 000 cost to the four other Respondents in the matter among whom included a contender for the PDP governorship ticket, Mr. Eyitayo Jegede, SAN. Justice Onnoghen held that it was wrong for Poroye and his group to drag the appellate court Justices into the matter knowing that they were only carrying out a judicial duty that was duly assigned to them. “The 6th to 7th Respondents who are Justices of the Court of Appeal were constituted by appropriate authority to hear and determine the case were not parties before the lower court and whatever they did was in their official capacity as judicial officers”, Justice Onnoghen noted. He stressed that joining them as Respondents in the matter “was not only an attempt to intimidate and scandalise the judiciary, but to put it in a mild way, an action in bad faith”. Justice Onnoghen also noted that the appellants (Poroye and his group), had also petitioned a previous panel of Justices of the appellate court that handled the case. “If the applicants are allowed to continue with this prank, there will be no end in sight and it will not augur well. In the circumstance, there is no merit in this appeal and it is hereby dismissed”. While concurring with the lead ruling, another member of the apex court panel, Justice Kumai Akaahs, held that action of the appellants was “capable of bringing anarchy”. However, the apex court panel fixed Thursday to hear the substantive appeal challenging leave that was granted to Jegede to appeal the June 29 judgement of Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court in Abuja which recognised Mr. Jimoh Ibrahim as flag-bearer of the PDP for the November 26 governorship poll in Ondo State. The Appellants had lodged 14 different appeals before the Supreme Court. Their counsel, Chief Nwufor, SAN, earlier withdrew 10 motions that forced the appeal court panel to suspend further proceedings on the Ondo PDP crisis. Nwufor said his decision to withdraw the applications was to enable the apex court to hear the substantive suit challenging the competence of entire appeals before the Justice Saulawa led Special Panel. The six PDP chieftains had among other things, urged the apex court to determine whether the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Bulkachuwa, was right when she constituted a special panel to hear cases filed against Justice Abang’s judgement, by Jegede, Senators Ahmed Markarfi and Ben Obi. Poroye and his group contended that the panel had in a ruling it delivered on November 16, okayed Jegede’s appeal, despite being aware that the Supreme Court was already seized of the facts in dispute. The Justice Salauwa-led panel had on November 18, adjourned sine-die (indefinitely), further hearing on the matter. The panel handed-off the dispute, barely 48 hours after it reserved judgment on Jegede’s appeal. Justice Salauwa said the panel took the decision after it was served with a motion from the Supreme Court for the proceeding at the appellate court to be suspended. Poroye and his group queried the decision of Justice Bulkachuwa to set-up a special panel for a pre-election matter which they said required no urgency. They insisted that Jegede’s suit should be returned to the Appeal Court Registry and allowed to take its rightful turn in the docket. The appellate court panel had initially refused Nwufor’s submissions, even as it allowed Jegede’s lead counsel, Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, to adopt his processes in the appeal to enable it to deliver judgment on the matter. Olanipekun argued that the appellate court had a constitutional responsibility to do justice in the case, saying the court would be abdicating its duties should it allow itself to be stampeded into handing-off the matter. The panel had on September 8, suspended hearing on two other cases relating to the Ondo governorship crisis, following appeals also pending before the Supreme Court. The two cases were filed by members of the PDP, Benson Akingboye and Ehiozuwa Agbonayiwa. Jegede had approached the appellate court to challenge the judgment of June 29 judgment of Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which directed the Independent National Electoral Commission to only relate with the Ali Modu-Sheriff faction of the PDP. Justice Abang, on October 14, also re-affirmed the verdict, even as he warned the electoral body against accepting candidate nominated by the Senator Ahmed Markafi-led National Caretaker Committee of the PDP. Acting on the strength of the high court order, INEC, promptly removed Jegede’s name from the list of candidates for the Ondo gubernatorial poll, and replaced it with Mr. Ibrahim. It will be recalled that whereas Jegede emerged from primary election that was sanctioned by the Markarfi-led NWC of the PDP, Ibrahim on the other hand, secured his ticket from the Modu-Sheriff faction of the party.
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