Court Sets Aside Judgement Nullifying Ebonyi PDP Primary

A Federal High Court sitting in Abakaliki, Ebonyi state capital, Wednesday, set aside the judgement of Justice Binta Nyako of the Abuja division of the Court that had nullified the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) primary election of 28th and 29th May, 2022 which produced Dr Ifeanyi Chukwuma Odii and other candidates of the party.

Justice Nyako had on December 8, 2022, nullified the primaries and directed PDP in Ebonyi to conduct a fresh one within 14 days.

Nyako’s judgement followed a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1319/2021 by Mr Okoroafor Tochukwu Okorie against the PDP and INEC.

The court agreed with the counsel to the party that the plaintiff, Mr. Okorie, that the 28th and 29th PDP primaries that produced Chief Ifeanyi Chukwuma Odii and other PDP candidates were conducted in flagrant disobedience of the order of the Court of Appeal, staying the execution of the judgement of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, which had declared Joseph Silas Onu as the Ebonyi state chairman of the party.

Not satisfied with Justice Nyako’s judgement, the PDP had filed a motion to set aside the judgement on the ground that it was obtained by fraud.

The matter with Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/1696/2022 was subsequently transferred by Chief Justice of the Federal High Court to the Abakaliki division of the court following Justice Nyako’s recusal from the matter, over allegation of being bias.

Delivering judgement on the matter on Wednesday, Justice Fatun Rima of the Abakaliki division of the court, agreed with the counsel to the PDP, Barrister Michael Inya Igbo, that the judgement by an Abuja division of the court nullifying the 28th and 29th PDP primaries in Ebonyi state was obtained by trick by the plaintiff, Mr Okorie, and consequently set it aside.

The Court also agreed with the PDP Counsel that if Justice Nyako was made to be aware of the facts and circumstances of the matter, he wouldn’t had given the judgement in the first place.

The court further agreed with Barrister Inya Igbo that once a Supreme Court has made a pronouncement on an issue, you cannot by any trick bring back the matter again to a lower court for adjudication.