APGA leadership tussle: Umeh floors Okorie at the Supreme Court

Posted by admin All People Grand Alliance (APGA), Latest Politics, Party Politics Friday, March 25th, 2011

The leadership crisis rocking the All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, over the last six years, was laid to rest by the Supreme Court yesterday, as it affirmed Chief Victor Umeh as the authentic chairman of the party.

In a unanimous judgment delivered by a 5_man panel of justices of the apex court on the matter yesterday, it dismissed the appeal that was filed before it by the protem chairman and founder of the party, Chief Chekwas Okorie, challenging both the High Court and Appeal Court judgments which hitherto okayed his expulsion from the party, as “clearly unmeritorious and frivolous”.

The Supreme Court while affirming the judgments of the lowers courts in dismissing the claims of the appellant, ordered Chief Okorie to pay costs of N50, 000; to all the 14 respondents he had listed in the matter.

In the lead judgment which was delivered yesterday by Justice Dahiru Musdapher, the apex court waved aside Okorie’s contention that he was denied fair hearing by the trial court in Abuja when it denied him the opportunity to discontinue the initial suit he had filed against Chief Umeh and 13 other top officials of APGA, in 2005, and proceeded to deliver judgment against him on the matter on April 16, 2008, wherein his suit was dismissed as lacking in merit.

He had in that suit, sought a declaration that was the only recognized and authentic national chairman of APGA, but latter sought to withdraw the matter when hearing was already concluded on it.

Dissatisfied that his reliefs were not granted by the lower court, Okorie went before the Abuja division of the Appeal Court to not only challenge the refusal of the trial judge to allow his application for discontinuance of the case, he had equally pleaded the appellate court to determine whether the trial Judge was right when he held that he was validly expelled from APGA, when no such relief was sought by any of the parties before him.

In its determination of the issues submitted to it, the Court of Appeal held that the trial Judge exercised his discretion properly in refusing to allow the application to discontinue the matter having regard to the state the matter had reached.

On the second issue, the court also found that on the evidence adduced by the parties, that the Judge was right to have dismissed the suit.

Consequent upon the judgment of the appellate court, the appellant, Okorie, took the matter to the Supreme Court.

According to Justice Musdapher yesterday, “It must be remembered that it was the appellants herein and others who first went to the trial court claiming the reliefs reproduced at the be_finding of this judgment, there was no counter_claim by the defendants, the respondents herein and the sum total of the judgment of the trial court as affirmed by the Court of Appeal was that the claims of the appellants were dismissed as lacking in merit. Accordingly any other issues or findings made by the courts were for no moment.

Most of the arguments bordering on fair hearing and miscarriage of justice were not actually argued or submitted, what was argued by the learned counsel for the appellants was that the learned trial judge was in error to have delivered the judgment on the merits instead of striking out the suit, after he had refused the application to discontinue the suit as filed.

“I have examined the record, at the time the judgment was read, the issue of address was closed and obviously there was nothing left except to read the judgment. The appellants have failed to complain in an appeal against the decision to refuse their application for adjournment and/ or for an extension of time to file the final address, or for the closure of the address. Having not appealed, the appellants must be deemed to have accepted the decision made by the trial court to have closed the issue of address and they cannot be heard to complain at this stage.

“These are the two legitimate issues arising for the determination of the appeal; all the other issues and arguments of counsel are irrelevant.

This appeal is clearly unmeritorious and frivolous. The judgments of the lower courts in dismissing the claims of the appellants are also affirmed. The appeal is accordingly dismissed. The 2nd appellant is to pay costs of N50, 000 to the respondents.

Okorie through his counsel, Chief Chris Uche, SAN, had urged the Supreme court to void his purported from the party on the grounds that it was done in total contravention to Article 19(2) and (3) of the APGA constitution.

-Vanguardwp_posts