April 13, (THEWILL) – The Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ebonyi state, Tochukwu Okorie, has asked the Abuja division of the Court of Appeal to set aside the judgement of the Federal High Court nullifying his nomination and election.
In addition, Okorie has filed a motion asking the Federal High Court to stay the execution or give effect to its judgement pending the final determination of his appeal.
THEWILL earlier reported that Justice Ahmed Mohammed had in his judgement in suit No: FHC/ABJ/CS/1319/2021, delivered on Wednesday, held that Tochukwu Okorie was not validly nominated to contest election for the position of Chairman of the PDP in Ebonyi.
The court noted that having submitted his nomination form outside the time stipulated by the PDP guidelines for the October 16 election, his nomination and election was invalid.
The court consequently entered judgement in favour of the plaintiff, Silas Onu, who came second in the said election.
But in a swift reaction, Okorie has through his counsel, Nkemakolam Okorie, filed a notice of appeal predicated on six grounds in urging the appellate court to set aside the judgement of the trial court and to dismiss the suit filed by Onu.
He followed it up with a motion for stay of execution brought pursuant to order 32 rule 1 of the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure) rules 2019.
Okorie said the notice of appeal raised serious arguable and recondite points of law before the Court of Appeal with great chance of success at the hearing of the same.
He contended that: “the trial judge erred in law in assuming jurisdiction and determining the suit when the subject matter is not one of items or subject matter enumerated in section 25(1) of the 1999 constitution and also not within the contemplation of section 84(14) of the Electoral Act.
“That the trial judge erred in law, when he held that the dispute between the parties is not an internal or domestic affair of the PDP, for which the court lacks jurisdiction to entertain.
“That the trial judge erred in law, in entering judgment in the suit when the plaintiff failed to exhaust the internal party dispute resolution mechanism enshrined in the constitution of the party, thus rendering the suit premature and incompetent.”
