S’Court dismisses suit to remove Imo gov, fines lawyer N40m

The Supreme Court has dismissed an application by Emeka Ihedioha of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), seeking to remove the governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodimma, from office.

The Supreme Court dismissed the application for lacking in merit.

Ihedioha had prayed the apex court to give a consequential order to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to issue a certificate of return to him as the validly elected governor of Imo State in the 2019 election.

Delivering judgement on Tuesday, December 5, 2023, Justice Tijani Abubakar declared that the application lacked merit and was frivolous.

Justice Abubakar said the court lacked jurisdiction to determine the matter, adding that the 60 days stipulated to hear the election matter had since elapsed.

He, therefore, fined the counsel for the PDP, Mike Ozekhome (SAN), N40 million for bringing the matter before the court.

He ordered Ozekhome to personally pay the N40 million fine to the four respondents he dragged before the court.

Those to be paid are the Action Peoples Party (APP), Uche Nnadi, Uche Nwosu, and INEC.

Justice Abubakar held that the motion was a calculated design to demonise the Supreme Court.

Ozekhome, who was called to the Nigerian Bar over 42 years ago, was fined N40 million for bringing a motion before the apex court seeking to revalidate the suit that removed Emeka Ihedioha as governor of Imo State in 2019.

In the motion considered to be frivolous by the court, the lawyer had asked the court for a consequential order to compel INEC to issue a fresh certificate of return to Ihedioha to enable him to spend a four-year tenure as the governor of Imo State.

His grouse was that the incumbent governor, Uzodimma, unlawfully spent the four years which Ihedioha ought to spend.

Among others, Ozekhome in the motion claimed that the All Progressives Congress (APC) had no candidate in the 2019 governorship election, saying Uzodimma ought not to have been made governor on the platform of the APC.

The Star