Supreme Court fixes date for fresh hearing of HDP appeal challenging President Buhari’s re-election

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Supreme Court has fixed October 28 for a fresh hearing of an appeal filed by the Hope Democratic Party (HDP) to challenge the declaration of President Muhammadu Buhari as the winner of the February 23 presidential election.

The apex court agreed to a fresh hearing of the appeal following a protest by the party that the court’s earlier decision which dismissed the appeal was based on a technicality rather than the merit of law.

In a bid to ensure that the appeal is heard within the time allowed by law, the court has issued hearing notices to parties in the matter notifying them of the October 28 date for a fresh hearing.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), President Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) are respondents in the suit.

The Supreme Court on October 4 in a unanimous judgement struck out an earlier appeal filed by Ambrose Albert Owuru.

The five-member Supreme Court panel, led by Mary Odili, struck out the appeal on the grounds that Owuru and his party filed two notices of appeal on one matter contrary to the provisions of the law, which the apex court described as an abuse of court processes.

“The two notices of appeal filed by the appellants and jointly utilised is a procedure not backed by law and cannot be used,” Odili said in the unanimous judgement.

“Rather the appellants have come here to tackle the decision on the merits which the court below handled out of the abundance of caution,” she said.

The appellants (Owuru and HDP) had challenged the decision of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal which on August 22 dismissed their petition for want of competence.

Dissatisfied with the Supreme Court judgement, HDP filed a fresh motion to challenge the way and manners its appeal against President Buhari’s election was determined and dismissed on what it termed technicality rather than the merit of law.

The motion filed by Chukwunonyerem Njoku on behalf of the appellants pleaded with the court to restore their appeal for a fresh hearing.

They are in their new motion asking the apex court to reverse itself in the judgment delivered on October 3.

In the fresh motion brought pursuant to order 8 rule 2 of the Supreme Court Rules and sections 6 and 36 of the 1999 constitution as well as section 22 of the Supreme Court Act, the party and Owuru claimed that the judgment delivered in favour of Buhari is invalid on the ground that it was based on technicalities of law rather than merit and justice.

They maintained that the dismissal of their appeal on technical ground was without compliance with the mandatory procedure of law.

Owuru confirmed that the Supreme Court has notified him and the party that the appeal will be heard afresh on October 28.

Newsmen reported how the presidential election tribunal had in a ruling on August 22 dismissed the petition of Owuru and HDP for not being in conformity with the position of the law and for being an abuse of court process.

But in their appeal, the HDP and Owuru asked the Supreme Court to void the presidential election of February 23 on the grounds that its postponement from February 16 by INEC was unconstitutional.

They urged the apex court to declare them the winner of an alleged referendum conducted on February 16 by Nigerians, which they claimed to have won with over 50 million voice votes. (NAN)