burningpot nigeria, nigerian news, nigeria news online, nigeria newspaper, nigeria newspaper online

By Funsho Muraina and Chuks Okocha, Abuja
Embattled governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2010 Anambra State election, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, has won a major legal battle as the Supreme Court yesterday dismissed an appeal that barred him from contesting.

The Appeal Court in Abuja had Wednesday banned Soludo from running as the PDP candidate in the forthcoming election. He headed to the Supreme Court where he lodged an appeal. Consequently, the Supreme Court vacated the judgment of the Court of Appeal on grounds that it was issued in bad faith. After over two hours of fierce legal fireworks, the apex court ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately accept his candidacy and allow him participate freely in the election.

In the decision of the Supreme Court read by Justice George Adesola Oguntade, the apex court held that the Court of Appeal was unfair for issuing such a sensitive order when the case before it was not heard on merit by both the Abuja High Court and the appellate court itself.

Justice Oguntade who presided over the case was emphatic in the verdict that the Court of Appeal had no power to issue the order of injunction when the matter before it was whether the Abuja High Court had jurisdiction to hear a case against Soludo and PDP or not. “We stand here for justice and to do justice to all manners of people just like every other court in the land must do in the best interest of justice and fairness, to all,” declared Oguntade. “We have critically read through the filed papers.

In spite of the fact that they were served on us in the chambers today (yesterday) and we have come to the conclusion that the action of the Court of Appeal was strange in law if not in bad taste. "The order given on Wednesday to forbid the appellant here (Soludo) from contesting the Anambra 2010 election was wrong in every angle of the law. You know it as officers in the temple of justice and you must not defend such an action. “On what principle of justice was that order given? It is a strange order. I cannot understand it at all.

 What is the meaning of that? “No Supreme Court worth its salt will affirm what the Court of Appeal did on Wednesday because it was just aimed at castrating a particular person. What was before the Court of Appeal was whether the Abuja High Court was right in declining jurisdiction in looking into the internal affairs of a political party.

What the court below ought to do was to rule on whether the High court was right or wrong in its decision," he argued. The apex court therefore quashed the verdict of the Appeal Court and pronounced Soludo the flag bearer of PDP. In his reaction, the PDP candidate said: “The plot has failed and the opposition is now into mourning.”