the apex court that sacked him.
Ihedioha posited that Hope Uzodinma, incumbent governor of Imo,
fraudulently misled the court to pronounce him as winner of the
election, adding that the judgment should be nullified.
Ihedioha, who is seeking “an order setting aside as a nullity the
judgment delivered by the court”, founded his application on the ground
that the Court of Appeal had earlier dismissed the petition of Uzodinma
as incompetent and struck it out.
He added that while the Supreme Court did not consider the appeal of
Uzodinma on this point, the judgment of the Court of Appeal dismissing
the petition still stands, adding that there was no basis for the apex
court to pronounce the appeal and declare Uzodinma as the winner.
In his application, Ihedioha also noted that, “The judgment was
delivered without jurisdiction in that by virtue of S.140(2) of the
Electoral Act, once the court says that the election was invalid, the
only possible judgment the court is allowed to give is a nullification
of the election, and not to declare Hope Uzodinma winner.
“That there was no proof before the court nor did the Supreme Court
state how it arrived at the declaration that Hope Uzodinma met the
constitutionally required geographical spread. “To meet this
requirement, the Supreme Court ought to state the scores and percentages
of all the 70 candidates that contested the election, local government
by local government.
“This was not done by the Supreme Court and therefore had no basis and
jurisdiction to declare Hope Uzodinma winner of the election.
“That the judgment was a nullity having been obtained by fraud or deceit
in that Hope Uzodinma fraudulently misled the Supreme Court into holding
that a total of 213,495 were unlawfully excluded from his votes.
“The fraud was further orchestrated by the fact that the total votes
cast was more than the number of voters accredited to vote. The fraud
was further demonstrated by the document tendered by INEC (FORM EC40G)
which clearly showed that there were no valid elections in the disputed
388 polling units.
“That the judgment was a nullity because it was given per incuriam,
which means that the Supreme Court did not take its attention to some
existing laws and facts even on the face of the proceedings.”
Ihedioha also posited that with the declaration of the court, the number
of votes have exceeded the number of accredited voters.
He noted that the present application was not subject to the 60 days
limitation period in section 285(7) of the constitution “because an
application to set aside a null judgment or order is not circumscribed
by statutes of limitation, and section 285 (7) of the constitution is,
to all intents and purposes, a statute of limitation.”
He urged the apex court to nullify its previous judgment and clean
itself of corruption by acting in line with the law by pronouncing him
winner of the election.
Ihedioha said, “Justices of this court are human beings capable of
erring.
“This court has the power to overrule itself (and has done so in the
past) for it gladly accepts that it is far better to admit an error than
to preserve an error.
“At this, of all times, our Supreme Court has been afforded this unique
opportunity of allaying the fears of those who cast aspersions on the
credibility of our courts.
“Your verdict on this matter should match the solemn oath you have
taken. Remember that every decision of the Supreme Court involves the
good name of the judiciary.
“Prove to the world that the Supreme Court is sacred. Let your verdict
help to retain the good graces of our people.”
Uzodinma, who was declared governor of Imo on January 14 by the Supreme
Court, said that he would no longer condone protests calling his
emergence.
He said, “My government will do all within the ambits of the law to
maintain peace and order; those who are engaging in these incessant
protests must stop forthwith.
“I took an oath to maintain peace and protect the lives and property of
the citizens, I will not fail to deal with any group causing a breach of
the peace in the state.”