The Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, has declared Mr Valentine Ozigbo as the validly elected governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the November 6 governorship election in Anambra State.
In the unanimous judgement delivered by President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem, the appellate court, held that the primary election held at the professor Dora Akunyuli Women Center, Awka, which produced Ozigbo as a PDP candidate, was conducted in line with the law and the PDP guidelines.
The court, in a unanimous judgement, set aside the decision of Justice A. O. Nwabunike of a High Court of Anambra State which had earlier declared Senator Ugochukwu Uba as PDP’s candidate.
While declaring as an aberration the parallel primary held at Saint Paul University, it berated Justice Nwabunike for sitting as an appellate court over the judgment of Justice Adeniyi of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court.
The Appeal Court also ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to publish the names of Ozigbo and his running mate as duly nominated and elected candidates for the PDP for the purpose of the November 6 gubernatorial election in Anambra State.
Having set aside the judgement of the lower court, the appellate court awarded a cost of N10 million in favour of the appellant against the respondent.
Justice Dongban-Mensem, while urging INEC not to allow itself to be distracted in preparation for the election, advised the commission to wait for the decision of the final court in the land and not hurriedly rushed to comply with the judgment of the trial court.
The panel took turn to take swipes on lawyers who enable litigants to abuse the court’s processes, stressing that relevant bodies like the National Judicial Council (NJC) and Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) must take decisive actions against culprits.
Justice Dongban-Mensem said the decision of Justice Nwabunike, “is strange in law. We hereby affirm that Valentine Ozigbo is the duly elected candidate for the appellant (PDP) for the forthcoming Anambra State Governorship election slated for November 6, 2021.”
Speaking after the judgment, Ozigbo’s counsel, Alex Ejesieme (SAN), commended the panel for the judgment and joined the President of the Court of Appeal in condemning what he called “Forum shopping” by litigants, who are encouraged by lawyers.
“The judgment is a victory to the PDP in Anambra State,” he said.
