Rivers APC tussle: Can appeal court overrule the supreme court?

By CHIBUIKE EPHRAIM BRIGGS

The leadership crisis in the Rivers state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the consequent litigations trailing it have reached a crescendo. What started as an Open Letter by Rt. Hon. Igo Aguma, the current Acting/Caretaker Committee Chairman of APC in Rivers state, published on Tuesday December 3, 2019 on The Nation Newspaper, titled APC CRISIS IN RIVERS STATE: SAVE OUR SOULS!! seeking for an internal resolution of the deputation via an intervention by the National Leadership of the Party,  later found vent in the Court rooms. This resulted in Judgments and Appeals up to the Supreme Court aside from the alleged movement of Appeal Case files from the Port Harcourt Division of the Court of Appeal to Abuja whose concerns were a hotspot subject of Media War and Petitions to the National Judicial Council (NJC).

The history of the crisis dates back to 2018 when the Transportation Minister was accused of vowing to destroy the APC in Rivers state should Senator Magnus Abe run for the governorship seat after he was said to have a favourite candidate against the wishes of stakeholders and the Party Constitution. This resulted in the crisis that characterised the Congresses and Primaries after those who paid for forms were denied from participating in the Ward, LGA Congresses occasioning the legal battles that led to the APC not being on the ballot during the 2019 general elections in Rivers state. This is the fault of the Minister who will not obey Court orders up to the Supreme Court in the celebrated locus classicus  in Ibrahim Umar and Dele Moses cases respectively.

In a bid to rescue the Party from its death-end, Igo Aguma came to do the yeoman’s job of seeking for cohesion and conciliation in line with the Party’s Constitution since the National Leadership seemed to be avoiding anything concerning the minister. A list of Caretaker Committee members was surreptitiously sent to the National leadership of the APC for inauguration as Caretaker Committee for Rivers state chapter of the Party without consultation with stakeholders. This led Igo Aguma, a statutory member of the party, to approach the Court as of right and prayed that he be declared the bonafide Caretaker Committee Chairman of APC in Rivers state given that the Constitution of the APC does not allow for the dissolution of Statutory members of the party even if the tenure of the state working Committee elapses or the formation or the composition of a Caretaker Committee for the state chapter without first including Statutory members of the party in line with the party constitution. He also sought for the dissolution of the illegal and now defunct Caretaker Committee led by Isaac Ogbobula who is not a statutory member of the party. The Court, in its wisdom, granted almost all the prayers by Igo Aguma and declared him as Caretaker Committee Chairman of APC Rivers state and dissolved the Isaac Ogbobula-led illegal structure loyal to Rotimi L Amaechi with a further directive to work towards reconciliation.  The substantive judgment in Suit No: PHC/4355/2019 which is still in force is also a subject of Appeals up to the level of the Supreme Court.

In what is absolutely dead on arrival in law, the Court of Appeal in Abuja led by His Lordship Justice Stephen Adah on 17th July  2020, ordered a stay of Execution of the fully enforced judgement in what can be linked to looking for the child in the womb when it had already been aborted. The Court was verily put on notice that the matter before it was now a subject of a pending Appeal before the Supreme Court following some rulings it gave. First, upon being put on notice, the Appeal Court immediately announced that it was disqualified from the matter, pending the determination by the Supreme Court. Yet, it went on to make a pronouncement of a purported Stay of Execution on the matter before the Supreme Court despite the argument that it lacked powers to make further orders on the matter for want of  jurisdiction which it ab initio admitted. Secondly, the stay was of no consequence because the judgement which was both declaratory and executory had been fully enforced and the Court knows better that in Law, a Declaratory and Executory judgement already executed cannot be Stayed. Little wonder the Organisation that petitioned the NJC and the President of the Court of Appeal alleged that the panel was already compromised. Obviously, this ruling by the panel led by Justice Stephen Adah must have compelled the Judicial Authorities to step the lead Justice of the Panel Aside as he is said to no longer lead the panel.

What then is the deal? During a hearing of the matter earlier in October 2020, the Appeal Court emphasised that it did not restrain Rt. Hon. Igo Aguma from functioning as Caretaker Committee Chairman of APC Rivers state.

However, the Supreme Court in Ibrahim Umar’s case made it abundantly clear in its judgement that those who paid for forms to contest for Congresses in River State APC in 2019 can not be excluded and that it was “self immolation” for the party to disobey judgement or seek to exclude them at all. In Dele Moses, the Supreme Court reinforced its earlier position that only those who paid for forms will contest at the APC congresses in Rivers state.

For the records, these cases are Pre-Election cases and the opposing interest does not want to allow this judicial reality because it does not favour the minister’s ultimate desires, hence this magic must be performed at all costs through the Court of Appeal.

Surprisingly, the Court of Appeal may have resolved to overrule and set aside the judgement of the Supreme Court in a case that is believed to favour the Transportation Minister. In APC v. Igo Aguma, Isaac Ogbobula v. Igo Aguma respectively, all touching on the judgement of the Court which is a subject of Appeal before the Supreme Court,  the appellate Court has jettisoned the need to stay proceedings on these subjects which hearing at the Supreme Court is slated for January 16, 2020. The Court of Appeal is still going ahead to preempt the case and give judgement on December 29, 2020 in what many believe would favour Amaechi.

What could be the reason for not ajudicating within the Law and known rules of Court in this and similar matters of political concerns? At what point did the pretence begin in allowing superior Courts determine appeals before giving judgement on substantive suits if there are no other intentions apart from impartiality?

This concern is legitimate because it brings fundamental questions on the sanctity of the Bench albeit substantially with a measure of vested interest with the boldness that nothing will happen.

Ephraim Briggs is a political rights advocate based in Port Harcourt, Rivers state.