Imo Guber: Posers Ahead of Supreme Court on Umeadi’s Suit.
The Supreme Court of Nigeria will on January 11, 2021 be confronted with another legal tussle in the already settled Imo State gubernatorial election disputes.
This time around, the fresh suit is said to have been instituted by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr Philip Umeadi and will be praying the apex court to revisit the already settled litigations on the Imo gubernatorial tussle.
Specifically, Umeadi, a former Commissioner in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will be asking the court to make pronouncement on who was the real governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the gubernatorial election.
The appellant in the renewed legal bid claimed that the apex court in one of its judgments declared one Uche Nwosu as the APC flagbearer, while in another judgment, the same court gave victory to the incumbent Governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma, also on the APC platform.
The senior lawyer wants the court to make a clear and categorical pronouncement on who the real candidate of APC was in the poll.
However, concerned observers have been asking questions on the propriety or otherwise of the fresh Umeadi’s suit.
The questions were centered on the validity of the finality of the apex court in any litigation and which have been affirmed in some of the most recent governorship cases.
The observers, among others, cited Section 285 of the 1999 Constitution which makes it mandatory for all political cases involving elections to be raised and concluded within 180 days period.
They further contended that Umeadi’s fresh case might irritate the Supreme Court which in the matter of Bayelsa Governorship case imposed a fine of N60 million on two prominent lawyers, Chief Afe Babalola, SAN and Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN for having the audacity to query the finality of the Supreme Court.
Besides, the observers noted that the locus standi of Umeadi in instituting the new suit would also give the court a task since he was not a party nor a contestant in the election that finally produced Governor Hope Uzodinma for a four year tenure.
In the Bayelsa governorship matter, Justice Amina Augie of the Supreme Court in the lead judgment made it abundantly clear that the finality of the Supreme Court as far as any case in this country is concerned cannot be queried or questioned because it is like a Rock of Gilbrata that cannot be shifted or moved for whatever reason.
Justice Augie in the judgment counselled lawyers, especially the senior ones, to always face reality on where a case begins and where it ends instead of dissipating energies in any matter enjoying the finality of the Supreme Court.
Will the Supreme Court on January 11 bow to the request of Umeadi and reopen the already decided litigation on Imo State gubernatorial election?
Will the Supreme Court anger and axe fall on the promoter of the fresh Imo gubernatorial suit as it did in the Bayelsa Governorship case?
These are the posers that will come to play on the date when Umeadi’s matter is expected to come up for mention.