CURRENTREPORT: The Supreme Court has rejected Emeka Ihedioha’s application for a certificate of return as the rightful Governor of Imo State, asserting that Governor Hope Uzodinma was not qualified to run for office. Justice Tijjani Abubakar delivered the ruling on Tuesday, dismissing the application as lacking in merit and deeming it unnecessary and vexatious. The court imposed a cost of N40 million against Mike Ozekhome for bringing the matter before the court.
The beneficiaries of the imposed cost include the Action People’s Party (APP), Uche Nnadi, Uche Nwosu, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Ozekhome’s motion, considered frivolous by the court, sought a consequential order to compel INEC to issue a fresh Certificate of Return to Ihedioha, allowing him to serve a four-year tenure as Imo Governor. Ozekhome argued that Senator Hope Uzodimma unlawfully occupied the four years that Ihedioha was supposed to serve.
In the motion, Ozekhome claimed that the All Progressives Congress (APC) had no candidate in the 2019 Imo Governorship election; therefore, Uzodimma should not have been made governor on the APC platform. However, the Supreme Court dismissed the motion, citing a lack of jurisdiction to entertain such a request. Justice Abubakar, in the ruling, characterized the request as strange, frivolous, baseless, unwarranted, and vexatious.
