March 22, (THEWILL) – Two members of the House of Representatives and 18 others from the Cross River State House of Assembly, sacked by a court in Abuja, have filed a suit at the Court of Appeal to challenge the judgement which removed them from office.
The lawmakers in the notice of appeal, filed through their consortium of lawyers led by Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), maintained that the trial court erred in law and occasioned a miscarried of justice against them.
They told the appellate court sitting in Abuja that, trial Justice Taiwo Taiwo entertained the suit PDP instituted against them, and delivered judgement without jurisdiction.
According to the Appellants; “The trial court lacked the requisite jurisdiction to have entertained the suit leading to the instant appeal.
“Arising from the hostile nature of the suit that gave rise to this appeal, the failure of the trial court to order pleadings denied the Appellants the opportunity to properly present their case, thereby, stripping them of their constitutional right to a fair hearing.
“Originating Summons ought rightly to be resorted to only where rights of parties depend on the construction of enactment only, without reference to hotly disputed facts.
“The Appellants predicated the reasons and grounds for their act of defection on the raging crisis and division that rocked the National and State leaderships of the Peoples Democratic Party (1st Respondent) at the material time, the facts of which were hotly disputed and refuted by the Plaintiff/ Ist Respondent.
“Consequently, the suit leading to the instant appeal was not suitable for Originating Summons procedure.
“The Appellants had applied for transfer of the suit leading to this appeal from the Abuja Judicial Division to the Calabar Judicial Division of the Federal High Court, where the cause of action arose and the subject matter is situated.
“The trial court refused to transfer the suit to the Calabar Judicial Division of the Federal High Court in defiance of the practice direction as contained in the said circular issued by the Honourable Chief Judge of the Federal High Court.
“The trial court erroneously heard the Appellants’ motion for transfer of the suit to the Calabar Judicial Division of the Federal High Court contemporaneously and together with Notice of the preliminary objection challenging the jurisdiction of the court and the substantive Originating Summons.
“The Appellants had protested the procedure adopted by the trial court, but the Honourable trial Court bluntly refused to hold the protest even when its attention was fully drawn to the motion for transfer, which ought to have been taken first and pronounced upon one way or the other.
“Hearing the Appellants’ motion for transfer of the suit to the Calabar Judicial Division of the Federal High Court simultaneously with the Notice preliminary objection challenging jurisdiction and the substantive Originating Summons constitutes an abuse of court process and procedure.
“The failure of the trial court to transfer this suit that gave rise to this appeal to the Calabar Judicial Division of the Federal High Court in Calabar, Cross River State where the Ist Respondent’s alleged cause of action arose amounts to forum-shopping, Judge-shopping and abuse of court process”.
The Appellants argued that the issue of ownership or transfer of votes is a matter for determination by an Election Tribunal and not a regular Federal High Court vide Originating Summons.
“Therefore, the issue of defection cannot be tied with ownership or transfer of votes, such as to confers jurisdiction on the Federal High Court.
“Reference to ownership of votes or transfer of votes amount to a surreptitious way of challenging the election and return of the Appellants before the Federal High Court, rather than before an Election Petition Tribunal”, they argued.
Besides, the Appellants, maintained that the trial court erred in law when it failed to consider their defence that they had already been expelled from the PDP before they later joined the APC.
They further claimed argued that the “Appellants had justifiable constitutional reasons to join the Yd Respondent after being expelled from the 1st Respondent.
“The question of expulsion of the Appellants as backed by documentary evidence was never challenged by the 3rd Respondent.
“The crisis and divisions at the national body of the Ist Respondent at the material time constituted a constitutional exception to the constitutional bar to the defection/cross – carpeting by the lawmakers as provided for in the proviso to section 68(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as altered.
“The decision of the trial court has occasioned a grave miscarriage of justice.”
Meanwhile, the Cross River State Government has approached the Court of Appeal in Abuja seeking a stay of execution against the judgement of the Federal High Court, Abuja which sacked the 20 lawmakers.
A statement by Christian Ita, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the state governor, noted that a motion on stay of execution has also been filed at the Federal High Court, even as he urged the lawmakers at the State House of Assembly and those at the National Assembly to go about their duties freely.
The statement noted: “This is to inform All Progressives Congress (APC) members of the National Assembly from Cross River State, members of the Cross River State House of Assembly and the general public that an appeal against the judgement of the Federal High Court, Abuja has been filed at the Court of Appeal, Abuja.
“Also, a motion for a stay of execution of the Federal High Court has been filed. Both processes were filed by renowned constitutional lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chief Mike Ozekhome.
“Following the filing of the two processes, automatically the orders of the lower court are stayed.
“Consequently, the APC members in both the National Assembly and the Cross River State House of Assembly should go about their duties freely.
“Find attached, copies of the Notice of Appeal and the motion for the stay of execution of the orders of the Federal High Court, Abuja.”
