The Owerri Division of the Court of Appeal has ordered that the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) should desist from taking steps to frustrate the appeal filed against the judgment of the Federal High Court Umuahia, which ordered removal of section 84 (12) from the new Electoral Act, TheCaveat has reported.
It also granted nod to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to join as interested party in the same appeal.
The enrollment order signed by Justice Rita Noshakhare Pemu, granted PDP leave to file an appeal followed submissions by the party’s counsel, D.C Denwigwe, SAN.
The appeal marked CA/OW/87/2022 has Chief Nduka Edede and the Attorney General of the Federation AGF as the 1st and 2nd respondents respectively.
The enroll order read in part “Upon reading the application herein filed on 23-3-2022 with an affidavit in support sworn to by John Eronini on the same date and after hearing DC Denwigwe SAN for the applicant and Chief Emeka Ozoani SAN for the 1st respondent, order is hereby granted as follows;
“Leave is hereby granted the applicant (PDP) to appeal as person interested in this appeal CA/OW/87/2022.
“Due to the exigencies of this appeal and its Constitutional colorization, there is need to hear this matter expeditiously.
“Accordingly, the Appellant is hereby given up to Tuesday 12th of April, 2022 to file its notice of Appeal and the parties are to file their respective briefs of arguments within three days from the date of service of the notice and record of Appeal on the respondents.
“There shall be a further three days given to the appellant to file a reply.
“Parties should desist from taking any step to frustrate the hearing of the appeal.
“The matter is adjourned to the 4th of May, 2022, for the hearing of the appeal.
“Fresh hearing notice to be issued on the 2nd to the 12th respondents”.
Recall that the Federal High Court in Umuahia presided by Justice Evelyn Anyadike had declared as invalid and unconstitutional section 84 (12) of the amended Electoral Act and ordered its deletion on March 18.
Section 84(12) of the Electoral Act provides that, “No political appointee at any level shall be a voting delegate or be voted for at the convention or congress of any political party for the purpose of the nomination of candidates for any election.”
The high court which ordered that the section be struck out held that sections 66(1)(f), 107(1)(f), 137(1)(f) and 182(1)(f) of the 1999 Constitution already stipulated that government appointees seeking to contest elections are only to resign at least 30 days before the election.
The court therefore held that any other law that mandates such appointees to resign or leave office at any time before that was unconstitutional, invalid, illegal and void to the extent of its inconsistency to the clear provisions of the Constitution.
Justice Anyadike, thereafter, ordered Abubakar Malami to delete the contended section 84(12) from the constitution.
However, the National Assembly (NASS), which enacted the contentious section 84 (12) had lodged an appeal at the Court of Appeal in Owerri against the Umuahia court judgment ordering the AGF to delete Section 84(12) of the amended Electoral Act.
While opining in its Appeal that the high court erred in law because the clause in question is directed at political appointees and not civil servants, NASS further claimed that the high court passed judgment on a matter which was not included in the Electoral Act and concluded that its decision was liable to be set aside by the Court of Appeal.
The National Assembly also challenged why it was not joined as a respondent in the suit, being the only body with constitutional power to alter any part of the legislation which it passed.
By TheCaveat
