Sir Friday Nwanozie Nwosu V. Peoples Democratic Party & Ors (2018)

LAWGLOBAL HUB Lead Judgment Report

AMINA ADAMU AUGIE, J.S.C.

This Appeal is a fallout of the discord that followed the Primary Election conducted by first Respondent to select its gubernatorial candidate for the 2015 General Election. The third Respondent, who won the said Primaries, is the present Governor of Abia State.

The Appellant and fourth Respondent, who vied for that seat, and who lost to the third Respondent, instituted a number of Suits at various Divisions of the Federal High Court, challenging same.

The Appellants Suit initially filed at the Federal High Court, Abuja, was transferred to Federal High Court, Umuahia, and it was again transferred to the Federal High Court, Owerri, [FHC Owerri], where it was given the new Suit number FHC/OW/CS/191/2015.

The fourth Respondent later filed a separate action against the third Respondent at the Federal High Court, Abuja – Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/71/2016. The Appellant applied and was joined as a Defendant to the said fourth Respondent’s Suit filed at FHC Abuja, wherein he later challenged the jurisdiction of the said FHC Abuja to hear and determine the

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fourth Respondent’s Suit on the ground that it was an abuse of Court process since the fourth Respondent filed same after his own Suit on same subject matter.

The FHC Abuja overruled Appellant’s Objection and entered Judgment in favour of fourth Respondent. The third Respondent appealed against the decision of the FHC Abuja disqualifying him to Court of Appeal, Abuja (COA Abuja). The first Respondent also appealed challenging the disqualification of the third Respondent, and Appellant appealed against the part overruling his Objection.

The COA Abuja allowed the third Respondent’s Appeal and first Respondent’s Appeal but it dismissed the Appellant’s Appeal. It was these three decisions of the COA Abuja that culminated into the three Appeal Nos. SC. 717/2016, SC. 719/20016 and SC.739/2016, which the third Respondent, first Respondent and the Appellant filed in this Court respectively against the decisions of COA Abuja.

Meanwhile, the Appellant’s other Suit filed at the FHC Owerri was dismissed and he had appealed to the Court of Appeal, Owerri {COA Owerri} – Appeal No. CA/OW/190/2016. While the said three Appeals were pending before this

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Court, the COA Owerri granted a stay of proceedings of the Appeal before it to await the outcome of the three Appeals before this Court, particularly SC.739/2016.

This Court consolidated the said Appeals and in its Judgment delivered on 12/5/2017; this Court dismissed all the three Appeals. Regarding SC/739/2016, M. D. Muhammad, JSC, concluded that

The Appellant in the instant appeal participated in the 2nd Respondents primary election of 8/12/2014 for the 2015 Abia State gubernatorial election. So did the Appellant in Appeal No. SC/717/2016. Each of them has the right and platform under Section 87(9) of the Electoral Act, the one independent of the other to seek the reliefs the law provides to an “aspirant either of them having participated in the party primary election in respect of which result they are aggrieved. Following his Application, the trial Court ordered that Appellant herein be joined in the Suit commenced by the Appellant in Appeal No. SC.717/2016. Appellant in the instant case needed not necessarily to have been a Party in the Suit subsequently commenced by the Appellant in Appeal No. SC.717/2016 to obtain the