The Court of Appeal sitting in Owerri, has struck out the case filed by Chief Emeka Ihedioha, the gubernatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Imo State, challenging the dismissal of his petition by the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal.
Ihedioha had challenged the earlier ruling of the Election Petitions Tribunal in Owerri, which affirmed the victory of Okorocha in the 2015 governorship election. The tribunal had struck out the petition for lack of merit.
Dissatisfied, Ihedioha went to the Court of Appeal, whose ruling on Thursday, further affirmed the ruling of the tribunal.
In his ruling yesterday, chairman of the Appeal Panel, Justice Jimmy Bada, said the case was dismissed on grounds of improper service of summons on the respondents, whose addresses were not properly listed.
But Ihedioha, in his reaction sent by his media assistant, Chibuike Onyeukwu, said he would approach the Supreme Court for redress.
Okorocha, while commending the Appeal Court ruling, declared that it had justified his confidence in the ability and readiness of the judiciary to uphold justice and also respect the popular and lawful actions of the people.
He expressed his deep respect for Ihedioha and declared that his desire to govern the state was a legitimate quest.
The governor also commended the legal team of Ihedioha, led by a “highly reputable lawyer”, Chief Mike Ahamba (SAN), for what he called their exemplary outing, right from the tribunal to the Appeal Court.
He appealed to Ihedioha to end the litigation over the governorship election of 2015 “in the interest of the state and her people”.
He called on him to join hands with him and other well-meaning Imo people toward the rapid development of the state.
The statement said: “It is the wish of the governor that the issue of who won or who lost the 2015 election in the state should be kept behind, while all Imo people, irrespective of their political affiliations, should be part of the administration.”
Reacting to the judgment, Counsel to Ihedioha, Ahamba, expressed surprise at the ruling.
He said: “I have done appeals in the past but I am surprised that the rule on service to respondents is different in election matters.
“We had a good ground for appeal but for the shortcoming in the service. The substantive matter is still in our favour. We are not done yet. We still have another tier to go.”
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