The Supreme Court on Monday adjourned hearing in the application by the former governor of Imo State, Mr. Emeka Ihedioha of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) seeking a reversal of his sack by the court.
The adjournment was made at the behest of counsel for Ihedioha, Mr. Kanu Agabi, who pleaded for time to respond to court processes he said was served on him by the incumbent governor of the governor of the state, Mr. Hope Uzodinma and his party, the All Progressive Congress (APC) in the courtroom.
“My lords this matter was adjourned for hearing, but we were just served in the courtroom with a process from the 1st and 2nd Respondents/Appellants.
“If it is convenient to your lordships, permit us to come back tomorrow (Tuesday) so that we can look at this process,” said Agabi.
However, counsel for Uzodinma and the APC, Mr. Damian Dodo said his clients were ready for the hearing to proceed.
“The application was only served because we received their own process on Friday. So today is the earliest date for us to serve them. We are ready to go on,” he said.
For its part, counsel for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Mr. Taminu Inuwa, said it was also ready. The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Tanko Muhammad, in a short ruling, adjourned the matter till Tuesday, March 3 for hearing.
It would be recalled that a seven-man panel of the court led by Muhammad, had in its January 14, 2020 judgment removed Ihedioha as governor and declared Uzodinma as the winner of the governorship election held in the state on March 9, 2019.
The court declared Uzodinma, who came fourth in the Imo governorship election of 2019, as the duly elected governor of the state in January.
Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, who read the lead judgment had upheld Uzodinma’s appeal ruling that the votes polled in 388 out of the 3,523 polling units were excluded in the final results declared by INEC in the state.
The apex court held that Uzodinma emerged winner of the election after the addition of the excluded votes.
Kekere-Ekun ordered that the certificate of return issued to Ihedioha be immediately withdrawn.
The court directed that a fresh certificate of return should be issued to Uzodinma.
It also directed that Uzodinma should be immediately sworn in as the governor of the state.
Ihedioha who described the judgment as a subversion of the will of Imo people had, through his lead counsel, Agabi on February 5, 2020 filed an application seeking “an order setting aside as a nullity the judgment delivered by the court on January 14, 2020 in Appeal No. SC.1462/2019 and Cross Appeal No. SC.1470/2019.
He premised his appeal on eight on eight grounds.
One of the grounds is that the apex court did not take into cognisance the appeal court judgment which dismissed Uzodinma’s appeal.
He sought one relief which is his return as the duly elected governor of Imo State.
