Supreme Court asks INEC to adhere to ruling recognizing Njoku as APGA National Chair

The Supreme Court of Nigeria has directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to adhere to its ruling by recognising Edozie Njoku as the National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).

The court’s directive came on the backdrop of a recent judgement it gave against Chief Victor Oye who had earlier approached an appellant court to recognise him as the authentic National Chairman of the party.

Not satisfied with the Appeal Court ruling, Njoku had proceeded to the Supreme Court and got a counter judgement which reinstated him as the APGA Chairman.

The apex court said its directive was contained in its proof of service of the Certified True Copy (CTC) of its judgment in respect of the APGA leadership tussle between the party’s National Chairman, Njoku and Oye, who are both laying claim to the office.

The proof of service dated April 5, 2023, was on a suit marked SC/CV/687/2021, between Chief Jude Okeke and APGA & others, which judgment was delivered by a five-man panel of Supreme Court Justices on March 24, 2023.

The proof of service of the Supreme Court judgment, according to the apex court, was received by the Litigation and Prosecution department of INEC in Abuja on April 5, by 3:54pm.

“I forward herewith for your information and necessary action, the order under the hand of the Honourable, the Chief Justice of Nigeria/Presiding Judge and the seal of the Court in respect of the above appeal,” the notification signed by Zainab Garba, Registrar, Litigation, Supreme Court of Nigeria, reads.

“I also enclose herewith certified copy of the order and of the judgment of the Court” it added.

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The Supreme Court had, on March 24, ruled in favour of an application filed by Njoku, which regularized and amended the judgment of Justice Mary Peter Odili (rtd), delivered on May 9.

Njoku’s application had followed a letter of the Supreme Court to him on January 19, 2023, wherein the apex court addressed him as the National Chairman of APGA and advised him to approach the Court by way of a motion to correct a slip where his name was wrongly spelled which Justice Odili had relied on in giving her ruling.

In the March 24 ruling, the Supreme Court had observed the misnomer and declared that “It is hereby ordered that the Appeal No. SC/CV/686/2021 set out on the face of the Judgment delivered by the Court on 14th October, 2021 is to be corrected and replaced with the Appeal No. SC/CV/687/2021.

“That the name of “Chief Victor Oye” mentioned and set out on page 13 of the Judgment delivered by the Court on the 14th October, 2021 in Appeal No. SC/CV/687/2021 be deleted and replaced with the name “Edozie Njoku” so that the sentence on page 13 would now correctly read: “It needs to be stated at this point that the dispute being who should be the Acting National Chairman of the 1st Respondent, APGA and whether the Chairman, Edozie Njoku was validly replaced are within the confines of the internal affairs of the 1st Respondent which is not Justiciable” the judgment stated.

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