Court of Appeal Stops Application Challenging Judgement to Enlist Soludo as APGA Candidate

By Ikeugonna Eleke

The Court of Appeal, Awka Division, Anambra State, last Monday, struck out an application challenging the judgement of an Anambra State High Court recognizing Professor Chukwuma Soludo as candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in the forthcoming governorship election in the state.

An Anambra High Court sitting in Awka and presided over by Justice Charles Okaa, had two weeks back ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to enlist Soludo’s name as the candidate of APGA.

An APGA governorship candidate from another faction, Chief Edozie Njoku, along with one Okoro Benedict, had approached the appellate court to challenge the order.

The plaintiffs had sought from the appellate court presided over by Nwosu-Iheme, three reliefs against the judgement of Justice Charles Okaa which affirmed Soludo as the authentic candidate of APGA in the governorship election in the state.

They had sought the following reliefs to wit: order of the appellate court staying execution of Justice Okaa’s Court judgement; order of the appellate court to set aside court rules and grant the appellants (Njoku and Okoro) permission to compile and transmit the judgement of Justice Okaa to the Court of Appeal and to make an order granting their application an accelerated hearing.

But Justice Nwosu-Iheme, in her ruling in the consolidated motions, Monday, dismissed the applications as incompetent and awarded the sum of N200, 000 and N250, 000 respectively, against the applicants who listed among others, Hon Wilson Onyekwelu, APGA, and others, as respondents.