The Supreme Court,  Friday, in Abuja finally laid to rest the three-year-controversy  surrounding the election of Gov. Ikedi Ohakim of Imo state. The court threw out Chief Martins Agbaso of APGA’s  suit, challenging INEC for unilaterally cancelling and concluding the election in Imo, held on April 14, 2007.

Agbaso is claiming that he won the April 14, 2007, governorship election in the state which was cancelled by the INEC after the compilation of  results from 24 out of 26 local government areas. He also claimed that he won the election convincingly.

He went on to argue that INEC had no power to cancel the poll the way it did and conducted another one on April 28, 2007. He applied for a court order to compel INEC to announce the result of the April 14 poll cancelled by the electoral body.

Leading four other Justices, Justice Walter Onnegehen, upheld the election of Gov. Ikedi Ohakim’s election.

In its ruling, the Supreme Court said that the process followed by Agbaso in challenging the Ohakim’s election was defective.

It said that the Federal High Court in Abuja had no  jurisdiction to judicially review the action of INEC when Agbaso approached it on grounds that events had overtaken the suit.

Onnegehen said that the request of Agbaso for the Supreme Court to  set aside the decision of  the  Appeal Court in the first instance was wrong.

However, Justice Christopher Chukwuma, disagreed with the four Justices, saying that Agbaso  had the right to question INEC in the said election.
He said that Agbaso’s request should be sent back to the election Tribunals and be judged on its merit.

Speaking to newsmen after the judgment, Chief Chris Uche (SAN) counsel to Ohakim, told newsmen that the matter had been finally put to an end.

He said that the Supreme Court’s ruling which threw out Agbaso’s request that the court should  pronounce him the governor_elect after holding that the lower court should not have dismissed his suit, was a victory for the judiciary.

“Agbaso’s new angle to the governorship election in the state, can be described as  forum_ shopping by a defeated politician who had refused to accept defeat at the polls and wait for his own time,” he said.

Counsel to Agbasso, Chief Wole Olanipekun, refused to talk to newsmen.
A throng of supporters, who came in more than 15 buses, took over the court premises singing solidarity songs.