Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State has won the first appeal delivered
by the Court of Appeal in Abuja with respect to the judgments of the
Federal High Court in Abuja June 27 removing him from office.
Ikpeazu’s appeal was with respect to the ruling delivered by Justice Okon
Abang of the Federal High Court in Abuja on July 8 in which the judge
insisted that he had jurisdiction to hear a motion for stay of execution
of his earlier judgments delivered on June 27 even after the appeals
against the judgments had been entered.
The Justice Helen Ogunwumiju-led five-man bench unanimously agreed in
their judgment that Justice Abang erroneously assumed jurisdiction to hear
the motion and adjourned it till a later date.
Justice Philomina Ekpe, who read the lead judgment, held that what Justice
Abang ought to have done in line with time-honoured doctrine of “stari
decisis” was to have transferred the motion to the Court of Appeal for
determination.
She also held that the Justice Abang wrongly interpreted the provisions of
Order 4(10) and (11) of the Court of Appeal rules when he held that the
said provisions were only applicable to an interlocutory ruling of the
lower court and when a final judgment in a suit had been delivered.
She also held that Justice Abang lacked jurisdictions to interpret the
provisions of the Court of Appeal being the rules of a superior court.
In her contribution, Justice Ogunwumiju, held that the trial judge
“deliberately stood the law on its head” by justifying his jurisdiction to
hear the motion when appeal has been entered.
Punch