APGA chieftains fined N10m as appeal court dismisses suit against ‘Soludo faction’

The court of appeal sitting in Abuja has dismissed an appeal filed by Edozie Njoku and Chinedu Okoro, both chieftains of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), challenging a judgment of the Kano appeal court.

A court of appeal sitting in Kano had, on August 10, affirmed Victor Oye as national chairman of APGA — meaning the return of Chukwuma Soludo as the governorship candidate of the party in Anambra state stands.

Two factions of the of the party had produced two candidates for the November 6, 2021 election.

Sylvester Ezeokenwa and some other party chieftains were sacked when Oye was suspended as chairman of the party, and another APGA faction led by Jude Okeke emerged.

But the Kano court of appeal had declared Oye as the APGA chairman.

Aggrieved by the judgement of the Kano appeal court, Njoku and Okoro had filed an appeal before the Abuja division, asking that the ruling be set aside.

Ruling on the appeal marked CA/AW/256/2021, filed against Ezeokenwa and five others, the Abuja division of the appeal court held that the suit filed by Njoku and Okoro constituted an abuse of judicial process.

In a unanimous decision read by Jummai Sankey, the appeal court held that it was bound by the doctrine of ‘stare decisis’, a Latin phrase which means ‘let the decision stand’, adding that sitting on the ruling of the Kano division would amount to questioning its own judgement.

The panel of three, led by Monica Dongban-Mensem, president of the court, also said the Abuja division lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the suit.

“This appeal is incompetent and is dismissed for want of jurisdiction,” Dongban-Mensem said.

“The judgment delivered in Kano was a final judgment, not a ruling and parties are bound by the outcome.

“The only other action to take is to appeal at the Supreme Court.”

The court also awarded the sum of N10 million as fine against Njoku and Okoro, in favour of Ezeokenwa and APGA.