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Tag: Appeal court

  • PDP S/W crisis: Olafeso heads to appeal court ahead of party’s convention

    PDP S/W crisis: Olafeso heads to appeal court ahead of party’s convention

    The Dr Eddy Olafeso led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP ) in the South West, has headed to the appeal court few days to the party’s national convention slated for Dec. 9.

    Mr Remi Olatubora, counsel to the Olafeso group, made this disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Akure.

    Olatubora said he had filed a motion on Nov. 29 at the Court of Appeal in Ado Ekiti for a stay of execution against an interim order of Justice Taiwo O. Taiwo of the Ado Ekiti Federal High Court, which was delivered on Nov. 8.

    NAN recalls that the federal high court had ordered the Olafeso faction to stop parading itself as executive members of the party in the South-West.

    NAN also reports that the order of the federal high court was at the instance of another faction led by Chief Makanjuola Ogundipe, which had earlier dragged Olafeso group to court.

    Olatubora said that the implication of the interim order was to deprive the Olafeso-led faction of its legal right to attend and participate in the Dec. 9 national convention of the party.

    He said that the Olafeso-led executive was elected in the South West zonal congress which was duly convened on May 14, 2016 in Akure.

    “We have filed a motion for a stay of execution and further proceedings in Suit No. FHC/AD/CS/18/2017, now pending before the Court of Appeal, Ado Ekiti Division.

    “We have duly served the Registrar of the Federal High Court, Ado Ekiti to notify His Lordship, Justice Taiwo O. Taiwo for necessary actions.

    “With this appeal for a stay of execution, the Eddy Olafeso-led executive remains the South West PDP leaders, who will lead delegates to the national convention in Abuja, come Dec. 9,” Olatubora said.

    Read Also: PDP: Intrigues ahead of December convention

  • Process to appoint Appeal Court judges not concluded – NJC

    Process to appoint Appeal Court judges not concluded – NJC

    The National Judicial Council (NJC) has distanced itself from a purported list of judges appointed to the Court of Appeal bench.

    It said the list is fake and fabricated by some mischievous hands, because its process to hire 14 judges for the Court of Appeal bench was still in progress.

    NJC’s Director of Information, Soji Oye, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday.

    He also faulted reports that candidates from the South East were excluded from the process.

    The statement reads:

    “The attention of the National Judicial Council has been drawn to an online publication and some newspapers alleging the National Judicial Council of recommending 14 judges for appointment to the Court of Appeal, and that none of the candidates shortlisted was from the South-East.

    “This allegation is nothing but a figment of the imagination of the online media as the exercise is ongoing and no candidate has been recommended so far.

    “To put the records straight, appointment of Judicial Officers to the Court of Appeal is done on merit and geographical spread.

    “Section 2 of Court of Appeal (Amendment) Act, 2013, governing the appointment of judges of Court of Appeal provides that the total number of judges to be appointed should not be more than 90 plus the President.

    “The court, however, currently has 76 judges leaving vacancy for additional 14 judges.

    “Of the 76 judges of the court, the North Central with six states and FCT has 12 judges; North-East with six states has 12 judges plus the President; North-West with seven states has nine judges; South-East with five states has 13 judges; South-South with six states has 14 and South-West with six states has 15.

    “In considering appointment for the 14 vacancies, and to ensure that each zone is adequately resented, all states that have three serving judges were not considered unless under special circumstances.

    “The states not considered are: Anambra, Bauchi, Borno, Cross-River, Ebonyi, Edo, Ekiti, Gombe, Imo, Kogi, Kwara and Oyo.

    “States like Adamawa, Kebbi and Sokoto have zero representation, which informed the need to include them in the current exercise.”

  • Newswatch: Jimoh Ibrahim wins at Appeal Court

    The Court of Appeal in Lagos has set aside the judgement of the Federal High Court delivered  on October 20, 2014and affirmed billionaire businessman  Jimoh Ibrahim as the legal owner of Newswatch.

    In a unanimous judgement read by Justice Tijjani Abubakar , the three-man panel of justices said the appeal by lbrahim ” is meritorious and it is hereby allowed. ”

    The judgement was delivered on March 20, this year. Other justices on the panel were Justice Garba Abubakar and Justice Abimbola Obaseki – Adejumo.

    The  justices further said that the trial judge misdirected himself on the issue of the payment of the sum of 510 million Naira for the shares of the company .

    They further ruled that the issue of payment for the share ” becomes res judicata ” since the payment was already litigated upon and Justice Abang has ruled that payment of the said sum was made by Jimoh Ibrahim to the former owners of the company in accordance with clause 6.0 of the share purchase agreement ..

    In the light of the above , they declared that the company was validly acquired.

    The Court further held that all the conditions of the Share Purchase Agreement particularly clause 6.0 were adequately complied with before Jimoh Ibrahim was admitted into the board of the company and subsequently elected as the chairman.

    ” lt is without any doubt, that the lower court erred when it held that 510 million was not paid for the shares, ” the justices said.

    Justice Abubakar declared :  “I think the learned trial Judge apparently missed the point when he only considered questions submitted via originating summons without considering the other processes filed wherein which constitute an integral part of the records before him, particularly the defendant affidavit.”

    The Appeal Court also ruled that the trial judge Buba J of the Federal High Court erred when he held that the “doctrine of estoppel” is not applicable in the present case.

    Ibrahim won the ownership case at a  Federal High Court  . The matter was re-litigated by the defendants before another Federal High Court Court presided over  Buba J who ruled in favour of  Ray Ekpu, Dan Agbese, Yakubu Mohammed and others.

    Ibrahim appealed against the judgement . In a unanimous decision, the appeal court declared that the trial judge ought to have respected the judgement of his learned brother of co-ordinate jurisdiction.

    Justice Abimbola Obaseki-Adejumo  said:  “ipso facto, l  agree with the reasoning expressed in the lead judgement that where a judgement has been delivered by a court, same cannot be subject to review by another court of co-ordinate jurisdiction”

    An elated Ibrahim yesterday said the judgement had now settled the issue of the ownership of Newswatch  He said ” it now beyond contest that  the ownership validly rests in me. ”

    In his reaction to the Appeal Court Judgement Ibrahim commended the appeal court and said that “he lost no sleep on the ownership of the company for a day”

    He said  the judgement has resolved what he called ” the noisy convergence of complexities ” arising from the sale and acqisition of Newswatch.

    “Nigerians now know the truth,” he said, adding that ” the magazine will soon return to newsstands. ”

     

    He dedicated the judgement to the staff of Newswatch, vendors, readers and advertisers who are the victim of the denial of payment of N510million.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Appeal Court affirms ruling on Ijegun stool

    The Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, has affirmed the juris-diction of a Lagos High Court to hear a suit on the kingship stool of Ijegun in Igando,-Ikotun Local Council Development Area, Lagos.

    A three-man panel comprising Justices Mohammed Lawal Garba, Biobele Abraham Georgewill and Ugochukwu Anthony Ogakwu dismissed the application for want of merit.

    It awarded N200,000 costs against the appellants, Alhaji Nuraeni Akinremi and Chief Mukadaisi Bello.

    The High Court, on February 21, 2009 in Suit No. ID/248/2009, dismissed a motion by Akinremi and Bello challenging its jurisdiction on the matter.

    It upheld the contention of the claimant, Chief Sulu Ayinla Akinremi that he is the rightful candidate nominated and chosen by the Kudeyibu Royal Family to fill the stool of Oba of Ijegun land.

    Aggrieved, Alhaji Akinremi and Bello, in a January 1, 2010 notice of appeal, challenged the lower court’s decision.

    They averred, among others, that the suit at the lower court was premature and incompetent, having regard to  Section 243(3) of the Obas and Chiefs of Lagos State Law, 2003.

    But, in its April 28, 2017 judgment read by Justice Garba, the appellate court held that the action at the lower court was competent and the High Court had the requisite jurisdiction to adjudicate over it.

    Justice Garba held: “Since the parties are one that the cause of the first respondent’s action is the Obaship of Ijegun land, a stool to which a customary chieftaincy is lower, the provisions of Section 24(3) are not applicable and do not apply to the action and reference of the cause of action first to the Chieftaincy Committee is not a condition precedent to the initiation of the first respondent’s action before the High Court.

    “In the final result, for being bereft of merit, the appeal fails and is dismissed accordingly. Consequently the ruling of the High Court delivered on December 21, 2009 is hereby affirmed.

    “There shall be costs of prosecuting the appeal assessed at N200,000 in favour of the first respondent to be paid by the appellants.”

     

  • Senator asks Appeal Court to quash house forfeiture order

    Chairman of the Senate Committee on Niger Delta Affairs Senator Peter Nwaoboshi has asked the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division to set aside an interim order forfeiting Guinea House, Lagos, to the Federal Government.

    The Federal High Court in Lagos made the order on April 24, following an application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), through its counsel, George Chia-Yakua.

    Nwaoboshi, who represents Delta North, and two of his firms, Golden Touch Construction Project Limited and Bilderberg Enterprises Limited, are the defendants.

    The court ordered that Guinea House, a 12-storey building at 29, Marine Road, Apapa, bought in 2010 for N805 million, be forfeited pending the EFCC’s conclusion of an investigation of a petition against the trio.

    Last Wednesday, the defendants through their counsel, Chief Anthony Idigbe (SAN), unsuccessfully applied to Justice Abdulaziz Anka at the same court to lift the interim order, which “perpetually put the property under investigation”.

    Justice Anka ruled that, notwithstanding a pending suit challenging EFCC’s alleged “unconstitutional” pasting of an “under investigation” notice on the building, the ex-parte order was necessary to preserve the property until the substantive matter was disposed of.

    “In the current action, the EFCC has put their intention to manifestation and I, therefore, see no abuse of the process,” Justice Anka held.

    But in their notice of appeal, Nwaoboshi and his firms raised four grounds, including that the judge erred in law when he dismissed their application.

    According to them, the court ought to have discharged the forfeiture order, because the EFCC did not place any cogent material before Justice Anka to indicate that any of the appellants would be prosecuted.

    No date has been fixed for hearing.

  • Melaye’s recall battle shifts to Appeal Court

    Melaye’s recall battle shifts to Appeal Court

    A FEDERAL High Court in Abuja was told yesterday that the appeal against the judgment on the recall of Senator representing Kogi West Dino Melaye has been entered at the Appeal Court.

    The court also struck out an ex-parte motion for substituted service filed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    The court’s decision was informed by the request by INEC’s lawyer, Yunus Usman (SAN), to withdraw the motion on realising that it was not the right application to make at the present stage in the case.

    INEC had, by the motion dated September 15, sought the court’s permission to serve, through substituted means, the petition for the recall of Melaye and related documents on him as ordered by the court in its September 11 judgment.

    The court had, in its judgment on the fundamental rights suit, with which Melaye challenged the recall process, ordered INEC to serve Melaye with the petition for his recall, accompanying signatures and other documents relating to his recall process.

    INEC had filed the motion ex-parte, citing the inability of its officials to personally serve the documents on Melaye personally. It alleged that Melaye had been evading service, a development that necessitated the resort to substituted service.

    When parties got to court yesterday, lawyer to Melaye,  Ikem Okoro, said his client’s appeal against the September 11 judgment has been entered and that the court could no longer take further steps on the case, including hearing applications.

    But, at a point and upon the judge’s intervention, Usman applied to withdraw his motion of September 15 to enable him file a proper one.

    The judge, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba, had noted that since the court has given its final judgment on the case, it could no longer entertain any new applications, particularly when the appeal against the judgment has been entered at the Appeal Court.

    He said since the order directing INEC to serve Melaye with recall petition and accompanying documents, he (Melaye) was bound by the order and he was under obligation to accept service.

  • Breaking: Appeal Court upholds Sekibo’s sack

    Breaking: Appeal Court upholds Sekibo’s sack

    …Affirms Abe’s election

    The Court of Appeal in Abuja has upheld the sack of Senator George Thompson Sekibo of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), representing Rivers East Senatorial District in the Senate.

    In a unanimous judgment Thursday, a three-man of the appellate court, dismissed Sekibo’s appeal, upheld the decision of the election tribunal, which earlier sacked the Senator and ordered that he be replaced by Andrew Uchendu of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    In another judgement, the same panel of the Court of Appeal upheld the election of APC’s Magnus Abe as Senator representing Rivers South-East Senatorial District.

    The court affirmed the judgment of the legislative election tribunal delivered on June 27, 2017 and dismissed the appeal by Olaka Nwogu of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), on the grounds that it was without merit.

  • Ondo governorship: Akeredolu loses at Appeal Court

    Ondo governorship: Akeredolu loses at Appeal Court

    •It’s democracy at work, says Abraham

    The Appeal Court, sitting in Abuja, yesterday dismissed an application for a stay of proceedings filed by Ondo State Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN) against his election.

    A governorship aspirant in the last election, Olusegun Abraham, is challenging the choice of Akeredolu as the flag bearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the November 26, last year, poll.

    Abraham said the party’s primary, which upheld the selection of Akeredolu, was fraught with irregularities.

    The APC chieftain said APC’s investigative committee recommended a repeat of the primary.

    Shortly after the primary, Abraham sought an interim injunction restraining the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from recognising Akeredolu as the party’s governorship candidate in the November 26 poll, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice filed on the matter.

    In October, last year, the Federal High Court in Abuja, presided over by Justice Nnamdi Dimgba, held that Abraham’s application for an interim injunction had merit.

    The court ordered Akeredolu to appear before it on October 28, last, but the governor appealed the ruling and filed a stay of proceedings.

    The appellate court ruled that the appeal and the application for a stay of proceedings lacked merit.

    The court also ordered the governor to put up a defence as one of the respondents in the suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

    Abraham hailed the ruling, saying it was democracy in action.

    A statement yesterday in Akure, the state capital, by the Director-General of Abraham Support Group (ASG), Kunle Eko-Davies, said: “The events leading to the 2015 Ondo State APC primary are still fresh in our memories. The unilateral act of our party’s National Chairman to submit the name of Akeredolu as the candidate of the party, contrary to the decision of the party’s Appeal Committee and National Working Committee (NWC), is also fresh in our memories.

    “This is a quit notice to Governor Akeredolu and his members to vacate the Government House, which was acquired illegally.”

    It urged members of the ruling party and supporters to remain calm and prayerful.

    The statement added that the dispute would be handled as a family matter and resolved by the courts.

     

  • Ondo APC Primary Court Ruling: Democracy at work – Abraham

    Ondo APC Primary Court Ruling: Democracy at work – Abraham

    The first runner-up in the last governorship primary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State, Segun Abraham, Monday hailed the ruling of the Appeal Court that dismissed the application for stay of court’s proceedings filed by Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu.

    The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja had on Monday dismissed the application for stay of court’s proceedings filed by the governor against his candidature in the last governorship primaries of the party in the state.

    Abraham in a statement in Akure,the state capital signed by the Director General, Abraham Support Group(ASG) Kunle Eko-Davies described the ruling as a “quit notice” to the governor and his supporters.

    It noted that the ruling was a clear sign that democracy is strengthening and more people oriented, stressing that “the ruling is a victory for all members of APC locally and in diaspora most especially the “disenfranchised members in the state.

    According to the statement, “The events leading to the 2015 Ondo state APC primaries is still fresh in our memories. The unilateral act of our party National Chairman to submit the name of Akeredolu as the candidate of the party contrary to the decision of the party’s Appeal Committee and National Working Committee is also fresh in our memories.

    “This is a quit notice to Governor Akeredolu and his members to vacate the state house that was acquired illegally.”

    It however appealed to all members of the ruling party and supporters alike to remain calm and be prayerful, saying it is a family issue that would soon be resolved by courts.

  • Oil theft: Appeal Court upholds foreigners’ jail sentence

    Oil theft: Appeal Court upholds foreigners’ jail sentence

    The Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, has affirmed the judgment of a Federal High Court, Lagos, which sentenced nine foreigners to five years imprisonment for stealing crude oil from Nigeria.

    The three-man panel, comprising Justices Hussein Mukhtar (presiding), M. L. Shuaib and Frederick Oho, dismissed the twin appeals filed by the convicted persons for lack of merit.

    Justice Oho, who delivered the judgment, resolved all the issues in favour of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    He said: “All the issues are resolved against the appellants. The appeal is manifestly unmeritorious and is hereby dismissed for lacking in merit.”

    The lower court on December 15, 2015 convicted the foreigners – five Filipinos and four Bangladeshi – of stealing 3,423.097 metric tonnes of crude oil.

    Justice Ibrahim Buba, however, gave each of them an option of N20million fine.

    He said it was the likes of the convicts, who were arrested by the Nigerian Navy on March 27, 2015, that give Nigeria a bad name.

    The convicts are – Axel Jabone, Zahirul Islam, Juanito Infantado, Suarin Alave, Gatila Gadayan, Islam Shahinul, Islam Rafiqul, Shaikh Nomany and Rolando Comendador.

    They were tried by the EFCC on four- count charge of illegal dealing in petroleum products.

    EFCC’s lawyer, Rotimi Oyedepo, said the foreigners violated Section 1(19) (6) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act, Cap M17, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, an offence punishable under Section 17 of the same Act.

    The prosecution said the convicts, caught while trying to export the stolen product on a vessel, MT Asteris, also flouted Section 4 of the Petroleum Act, Cap P10, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.

    Justice Buba found them guilty on all the charges and sentenced them to five years imprisonment.

    According to the judge, the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.

    “The case of the prosecution is as clear as the daylight,” the judge held, adding that EFCC’s case was not controverted.