Magnus Abe’s Governorship Ambition Sealed At Appeal Court

Emeka Amaefula

The court of appeal sitting at Port Harcourt Judicial Division with Justice  A.A Gumel presiding had ruled on the appeal brought before it in the suit no. CA/PH/37/2019 in which  senator Magnus Abe had asked the lower court Federal High court Port Harcourt  Judicial Division presided by Justice Kolawole Omotosho to declare him as the preferred All Progressive Congress-APC governorship candidate in Rivers State.

But in the judgement of the lower court, Justice Omotosho  handed senator Magnus Ngei Abe wrong verdict that never approved his pleas. 

On Thursday 21st of February, 2019, court of Appeal 3-man panel of Justice Bitrus G. Sanga, Justice A.A Gumel chairman and another handed a shocking judgement read by Justice Bitrus G. Sanda, having pronounced that senator Magnus Ngei Abe’s Appeal has semblance with previous appeals made before the apex court at Abuja and as he quoted the February 8th Supreme Court judgement that said “It is my considered opinion that this appeal must be given a decent burial. The appeal, having been withdrawn at the lower court by the respondent, is deemed distilled. This is what the lower court failed or evaded to do. Therefore, by virtue of section 22 of the Supreme Court Act 2004, the lower court, having failed to exercise its powers provided under order 11, Rule 5, this court is bound to do so. Thus I will allow, the appeal and set aside the ruling of the lower court dated October 31st, 2018. I hereby dismiss Appeal No. CA/PH/198/2018, same having been validly withdrawn. 

It was decided by the 3-man panel members of Court of Appeal, Port Harcourt Judicial Division that the Appeal before them which had senator Magnus Ngei Abe and others be struck out as it has semblance connections with all the consolidated appeals before the apex court. 

It should be recalled that, in one of the cases decided by Port Harcourt High Court presided over by Justice Chinwendu Nwogu at the trial court level, the plaintiffs, led by one Ibrahim Umar on May 11, 2018, obtained interim injunctions that restrained the All Progressive Congress-APC from conducting indirect primaries elections on May 19, 20 and 21, 2018 for wards, LGAs and States Congresses that produced Tonye Patrick Dele Cole as APC Governorship candidate and Ojukaiye Flag – Amachree as chairman of APC in Rivers state. But court in its wisdom had quashed  all the action as they were conducted in disobedience against the Justice Chinwendu Nwongu’s interim injunction.

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Lawyer to senator Magnus Ngei Abe, Henry Bello at the end of the judgement said “My name is Henry Bello, I am counsel to senator Magnus Abe and 47 others, the appellants in suit No. CA/pH/37/2019  against INEC, APC and Patrick Tonye Cole and others, the Court of Appeal had just delivered judgement in that matter today (yesterday 21/02/2019) holding that in view of the decision of the Supreme Court in SC 7/2 S.H 1070/2018 which had to do with legal representation and the effect of the withdrawal of the Appeal that the Court of Appeal will refrain from deciding  on which is authentic between the primary elections of APC, so we have just spoken with our clients and I have been given instructions to proceed to the Supreme Court to have this matter finally decided”.

The APC Rivers State Legal Officer, Chiemenew Wisdom Jerome, counsel to APC  “The last was the judgement delivered by Justice Omotosho of the Federal High Court on the Appeal filed by Senator Magnus Abe and some others against judgement.  The Appeal came up today and the learned Justice of the Federal High Court in their wisdom found that the Appeal was academic and struck it out on that ground. As we speak Magnus Abe has nothing to stand on to clam the ticket of All Progressive Congress-APC in Rivers State.