Appeal Court sacks Ned Nwoko as senator-elect - The Punch

Court of Appeal, Abuja. Photo: Olatunji Obasa

Ade Adesomoju

The Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal on Thursday nullified the April 3, 2019 judgment of the Federal High Court, Abuja which sacked Senator Peter Nwaoboshi as the Peoples Democratic Party’s senator-elect for the Delta North Senatorial seat.

The Federal High Court in Abuja had by its said judgment declared Ned Nwokwo as the true candidate of the PDP for the February 23, 2019 National Assembly election.

But in a unanimous judgment of a three-man panel led by Justice Adamu Jauro, the Court of Appeal held that the lower court’s judgment was a nullity because the court wrongly assumed jurisdiction to hear the case filed by Nwoko.

Justice Mohammed Idris, in the lead judgment of the panel, held that the suit by Nwoko was statute-barred and that Justice Ahmed Mohammed of the Federal High Court, Abuja ought not to have heard the case in the first place.

Justice Idris noted that the case was filed outside the 14 days allowed under Section 285(9) of the Constitution for the institution of pre-election cases.

“Therefore, the trial court had no jurisdiction to entertain the action. Having come to this conclusion, we allowed the appeal, we set aside the decision of the trial high court and we struck out the suit,” he held.

Other members of the panel – Justices Adamu Jauro and Emmanuel Agim – agreed with the lead judgment authored and delivered by Justice Idris.

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