The Court of Appeal sitting in Enugu yesterday set aside the February 8 judgement of Enugu State High Court and reaffirmed Chief Victor Umeh as the national chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA.
In a unanimous judgement, the court quashed the judgement of Justice Innocent Umezulike which sacked the entire members of the National Working Committee, NWC, of APGA on the grounds that their tenure expired in 2010.
In a lead judgement delivered by Justice Tom Yakubu and concurred by two other justices on the appeal panel, Justices Paul Galinje (chairman) and Modupe Kwasami, the appellate court granted all the four reliefs sought by the applicant (Umeh) and resolved all the issues set out for determination in his favour.
The lower court had in its ruling on the case filed against the APGA national chairman by an expelled member of the party in Enugu State, Mr. Jude Okuli, ordered Umeh's removal on the grounds that his tenure had expired and went ahead to declare the November 10, 2011 National Convention of the party where Umeh and other NWC members were re-elected as unconstitutional. Umeh thereafter went to the appellate court to challenge the decision of the lower court.
In the course of the proceeding, the court granted a stay of execution of the Umezulike's judgement, paving the way for Umeh to continue as APGA national chairman pending the resolution of the substantive appeal.
Delivering judgement on the appeal, Yakubu dismissed all the objections raised by the respondent (Okuli) against the appeal, saying the lower court had no jurisdiction ab initio to entertain the case brought before it, since according to him, the plaintiff, having been expelled by his state chapter of the party, had no locus standi to institute the action.
He said even if Okuli was not expelled from the party, he was neither a contestant for the position of national chairman nor a member of the NWC whose interest might be affected if Umeh remained in office.
The court also frowned at the decision of the lower court to restore Okuli as a member of the party when he had, in his affidavit, admitted that he was expelled from the party, stressing that the trial judge went beyond his powers in granting a relief not sought by the plaintiff.
He said: "The court must concern itself to the issues submitted to it by parties, the judgement of the lower court smacks of a sympathiser weeping more than the bereaved and the court is not supposed to be a Father Christmas or a charitable organisation.
"I am of the considered opinion that the respondent (Okuli) has no locus standi to institute the action and the trial court shouldn't have wasted time trying the matter because it assumed jurisdiction which it did not possess.
"There are several authorities (who have said) that the courts should not interfere with the internal affairs of the political parties except on issue of wrongful substitution as contained in Section 87 (9) of the Electoral Act 1999 as amended."
Reacting to the judgement, Umeh, who was nearly mobbed by a large crowd of supporters including members of the APGA NWC, former governorship candidate of the party in Imo State, Chief Martins Agbaso and the state chairmen of the party, said it had rekindled his confidence in the judiciary.
He attributed his victory to God and the tremendous support he enjoyed from party members. Addressing the large crowd of APGA members who converged on the Appeal Court premises after the ruling, Umeh, flanked by members of his NWC, said: "All those listened to the ruling of the Appeal Court heard that all the decisions against me by the Enugu Chief Judge have been set aside.
"All our grounds of appeal were successful; that the Chief Judge of Enugu State has no business prosecuting me; God has vindicated me and APGA today. We thank God Almighty. "Before we leave this arena, may I thank the Nigerian judiciary, this has restored our confidence in the judiciary.
This is a case of David and Goliath. We did not have money but God gave us victory because we have God. From today, by the decision handed down by this Court of Appeal, our party is coming back." Umeh also assured the leadership of the party in Anambra State, purportedly sacked by Governor Peter Obi's faction, that they remained the authentic executive of the party in the state.
In a swift reaction to the court verdict, one of APGA's gubernatorial aspirants in Anambra State and a member of the House of Representatives, Mrs. Uche Ekwunife, described it as victory for democracy. Ekwunife, therefore, urged both Obi and Umeh to reconcile their differences in the interest of the party.
She said: "This is victory for the people; it shows we still have trust in the judiciary to ensure that people get good judgement. We don't have need for this division. We will be facing a major election in Anambra State in the next three months. "Obi and Umeh should come together for the sake of some of us that are following them. They should come together. There is no victor, no vanquished in this matter.
They should reconcile as brothers so that the party can go and win election. "If by any incident, their division affects the party from winning the gubernatorial election, history will not forgive them and posterity will not judge them right.
"None of them is running for governorship, Obi is not re-contesting, neither is Umeh running, why should who will be the governor tear the party apart? They should reconcile, so that we can go for free and fair primary."
