The Supreme Court has upheld the candidacy of the spokesperson of the Coalition of United Political Parties, Ikenga Ugochinyere, as the validly elected candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party for the House of Representatives for Ideato North and South Federal Constituency, Imo state.
Ugochinyere has been the face and voice of CUPP, the group of opposition political parties which recently raised the alarm that some people were working clandestinely to ensure that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System and Results Viewing Portal by the Independent National Electoral Commission was not deployed in the conduct of 2023 general elections. It further alleged that the same set off people were also working to see that INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu was sacked from his position just so they can have their way of rigging the election.
In upholding his candidacy, the apex court on Thursday dismissed an appeal against his nomination on the appeal marked: SC/CV/1439/2022, filed by Hon. George Igbo challenging the decision of the Court of Appeal, Owerri division, which earlier upheld Ugochinyere’s nomination.
The five-member panel of the apex court held that the appeal was not prosecuted within the time stipulated by the law, a development that robbed it of the jurisdiction to hear the appeal. The apex court equally upheld the preliminary objections raised by Ugochinyere and the PDP.
The apex court also upheld the finding of the Court of Appeal that the appellant’s counsel failed to comply with the rules of procedure in prosecuting the appeal, which mounted to the appeal being abandoned.
The Supreme Court, in affirming the earlier judgment of the Court of Appeal, held that there are no grounds put before it, to nullify Ugochinyere’s nomination, having complied with the provisions of the law and stipulated guidelines. The apex court added that there must be an end to litigations and recklessness.
The Supreme Court further held that the lower court was right in holding that the appellant’s appeal was deemed abandoned.
In holding that it lacked the jurisdiction to determine the appeal, the apex court held that it could also not invoke its powers under Section 22 of the Supreme Court Act to determine the real issues in controversy.
It held that the law is settled that “where the original jurisdiction in the lower court is extinct or had lapsed, the powers of the appellate court to exercise jurisdiction is a fortiori, extinct or non-existent as well.
“Hence, this honourable court cannot invoke its powers under Section 22 of the Supreme Court Act,” the court said.
