Supreme Court Dismiss Ihedioha Review

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Supreme Court of Nigeria

The Supreme Court Has just dismissed an Application by Emeka Ihedioha, Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP which ousted him as Governor of Imo State.

In a six-to-one judgement, the Supreme Court dismissed  the application by the sacked Governor of Imo State, Emeka Ihedioha for a review of the court’s January 14, 2020 judgment, sacking him.
While the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Ibrahim Muhammad led five others to dismiss the application on the grounds that the court’s decision is final.
Ihedioha
Supreme Court Dismiss Ihedioha Review
Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, who read the lead ruling, held that the Supreme Court lacked the jurisdiction to review its judgment once it is delivered and that there is no law that mandates the court to reverse itself.
But in a dissenting opinion, Justice Centus Nweze held that the court change its mind on any decision, having done so in the past.
Ihedioha Supreme Court
Chima Centus Nweze
Justice Nweze held that the the portion of judgment of the Court of Appeal, which struck out the petition by Hope Uzodinma, was not resolved by the Supreme Court.
He held that the Supreme Court was without jurisdiction to have given the judgment it gave declaring Uzodinma winner.
Justice Nweze is still reading his dissenting opinion.

AUTHENTIC ALSO: Ihedioha: The World is Watching Tanko Muhammad – His Fellow Injustices of the Supreme Court Of Nigeria-Nnamdi Kanu

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Justice Nweze held that the court has the power to overrule itself in a situation where such a judgment was not seen to have met the justice of the case.

He added that the Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodinma, misled the court in arriving at the judgment which removed Ihedioha from office after about 10 months.

According to the judge, there is no evidence that Governor Uzodinma satisfied the required spread to have been declared the winner of the election.

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He, therefore, told other judges on the panel that the judgment upholding Uzodinma’s victory in the March 9, 2019 poll would continue to haunt the nation’s electoral jurisprudence.

ihedioha
Ihedioha -R – Hope Uzodinma -L

INEC had declared Mr Ihedioha as the winner of the March 9, 2019 governorship election in Imo State on the ground that he won the majority of lawful votes cast at the governorship poll.

Meanwhile the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal and the Court of Appeal, during appeals filed by Senator Uzodinma, gave a concurrent decision, upheld Ihedioha’s election and dismissed Uzodinma’s petition on grounds that he did not prove his allegations against the election of Ihedioha.

But the apex court held otherwise and sacked Mr Ihedioha on the 14th of January.

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The apex court in its judgment disagreed with the decisions of the appeal court on the grounds that they erred in law when they excluded votes from 388 polling units from the total scores at the poll.

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