Ebonyi State: Appeal Court Dismisses Suit Against PDP Gubernatorial Candidate

The appellate court threw away the suit filed by Okoroafor Tochukwu Okorie on the grounds that it constituted a gross abuse of court process against Ifeanyi.

Justice Adebukola Banjoko, who read the unanimous judgment of the appellate court on Wednesday, affirmed the five million naira (N5,000,000) fine imposed on the appellant’s lawyer for engaging in court abuse.

Okorie had dragged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and PDP before the Court of Appeal challenging the nomination of Ifeanyi and the setting aside of a default judgment he secured at the Federal High Court in Abakaliki, the state capital.

A Federal High Court judge in Abakaliki, Justice Fatun Fiman, had on February 1, 2023, in a suit filed by Okorie against the INEC and PDP,  set aside an earlier decision of the same court which was granted in favour of the plaintiff.

Justice Riman set aside all reliefs granted in favour of Okorie upon becoming aware that the plaintiff (Okorie) grossly suppressed material fact, especially the final judgment of the Supreme Court on the same subject matter to secure the default judgment.

Dissatisfied with the setting aside of the judgment, Okorie had approached the Appellate Court in Abuja, praying that all the reliefs granted him by the Federal High Court in Abakaliki be restored to him.

His request was opposed by the PDP through its counsel, Mr. Chris Uche SAN, who informed the court that the Supreme Court had in its judgment last year settled all issues relating to the nomination of the PDP’s governorship candidate in Ebonyi state.

Specifically, the senior lawyer informed the Court of Appeal that the apex court affirmed Chukwuma Ifeanyi as the governorship candidate.

Uche also told the appellate court that the Federal High Court in Abakaliki reversed the default judgment in line with the provisions of the law on suppression of fact and pleaded with the Court of Appeal to dismiss the case of the appellant.

In her judgment, Justice Banjoko agreed with the PDP counsel that the appellant was in gross abuse of court with multiple cases over the same subject matter.

The Appeal Court Justice specifically held that the fresh case by Okorie was an affront to the final decision of the Supreme Court on the Ebonyi PDP governorship ticket tussle.

The appellate court thereafter dismissed the appeal and affirmed the N5 million (N5,000,000) fine imposed on the counsel to the appellant.

The Supreme Court had on September 14, 2022 in a judgment affirmed Chukwuma Ifeanyi as the lawful governorship candidate of the PDP, having emerged from a primary election conducted by the National Working Committee of the PDP.