By Chidi Nkwopara

OWERRI—The legal suit instituted by Sir Friday Nwanozie Nwosu, a lawyer, against the Abia State Governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, pre-dated the last governorship election in the state.

Apparently not amused by the outcome of the primary organized by the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Nwosu headed to the Federal High Court in Umuahia, vide suit number FHC/UM/64/2015.

Gov. Ikpeazu

It was not clear at press time, what happened midway in the suit and the matter was transferred to Abuja and registered as suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/184/2015.

Again, the matter probably ran into a stormy legal weather and was finally transferred to the Federal High Court, Owerri, and registered as  FHC/OW/CS/191/2015.
Joined in the suit were the PDP, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Dr. Ikpeazu and Uchechukwu Sampson Ogah.

Backed by his counsel, Mr. Francis Unyimadu, the plaintiff instituted the action against the defendants vide an originating summons challenging the nomination of Ikpeazu for the position of governor of Abia State, in the 2015 general election.

The plaintiff raised eight questions for determination by the court, as well as sought 14 reliefs. Part of it read:

“We urge your lordship to resolve this issue in favour of the plaintiff and accordingly declare him as the candidate of the first defendant (PDP), for the Abia State governorship election in 2015, consequent upon the disqualification of the third defendant (Okezie)”

The plaintiff further stated that the second Defendant (INEC) had a duty to critically examine all documents submitted to it by a candidate to ensure compliance with the extant laws governing elections and advice the political party concerned accordingly.

“The second Defendant, should be compelled to remove the name of the third Defendant as a candidate of the first Defendant in the 2015 general elections”, Nwosu told the court.

The plaintiff also “sought to know whether the fourth Defendant (Ogah) and/or any other gubernatorial aspirant of the first Defendant (PDP), who rejected out rightly or complained against the validity of the first Defendant’s gubernatorial primary election in Abia State, held on December 8, 2014, at Umuahia and/or who refused to sign or endorse the result of the said primary election and who called for a fresh primary election by the first Defendant, have not lost the right to be gubernatorial candidate of the first Defendant in the Abia State Gubernatorial Election of 2015, by virtue of the said primary election held on December 8, 2014, in the event of the disqualification of the third Defendant (Okezie).

Nwosu amassed a lot of documents and exhibited all of them in the suit, even as he urged the court to hold that the tax receipts and the Tax Clearance Certificate, TCC, presented to INEC, were forged.

Apart from other prayers, the plaintiff equally prayed the court to hold that having forged his tax papers, Ikpeazu was not qualified to stand for the governorship election.

The defence lawyers, including Dr. Livy Uzoukwu, SAN, Jude T. U. Nnodum, SAN, Chief Theo Nkire and O. J. Nnadi, SAN, raised a number of preliminary objections along the line, including the jurisdiction of the court and urged it to decline to hear the suit on the originating summons.

The defendants sought to know whether the originating summons is incompetent, thereby robbing the court of jurisdiction to consider it and “whether all the necessary parties were present in the suit, if not, whether the suit can proceed to hearing.”

They also wanted the court to decide whether the subject matter of this suit falls within the jurisdiction of the court and whether, having regard to the controversial facts of this suit, originating summons is the appropriate means of activating this court’s jurisdiction.

The  presiding Judge, Hon. Justice Ambrose Lewis Allagoa, deferred ruling on all the objections, promising to deliver ruling on all the issues, on the judgment day.

Delivering the two and a half hour judgment, Hon. Justice Allagoa dismissed all the preliminary objections raised by the defence, but however said that the plaintiff did not lead any evidence to show that the tax documents he relied on, were forged.

“The third defendant (Governor Ikpeazu), was not the maker of the document. It was rather made by the Abia State Board of Internal Revenue, a corporate body established for assessing and collecting taxes for the state”, Justice Allagoa said.

While agreeing with the submissions of counsel to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and INEC, Dr. Livy Uzoukwu (SAN) and Jude T.U. Nnodum (SAN) respectively, Justice Allagoa said that a top official of the Board of Internal Revenue had given oral evidence to the effect that the documents were not forged.

“There is no evidence from the Abia State Internal Revenue Service, relied on by the plaintiff, showing that those taxes were not paid as shown in the documents or any other act of impropriety. The plaintiff rather, rested on his ipse dixit in declaring the documents a forgery and, audaciously, has asked the court to approve his stance”, the court said.

Justice Allagoa also aligned his thought with that of Nnodum when he held that “by alleging that the third defendant (Ikpeazu) presented forged or false documents to the second defendant (PDP), the plaintiff has undertaken the burden of proving the allegation beyond reasonable doubt.”

The court also agreed that what the plaintiff has done in this case “is to amass documents and bring them to court with his own interpretation of their contents”, adding that the plaintiff has by his own showing, disclosed that Ikpeazu was a Pay as You Earn tax payer in the employment of Abia State Government.

“I hold that the Tax Clearance Certificate and receipts were not forged. Having so held, all the other reliefs sought by the plaintiff are hereby dismissed. The position of the Governor of Abia State, remains as it is,” Justice Allagoa said.