The Nigerian Supreme Court has scheduled a hearing for October 31, 2023, to address an application filed by the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) seeking the removal of Governor Hope Uzodinma from office in Imo State. This hearing comes three years after the motion was initially filed and less than a month before the scheduled governorship election in the state.
APGA’s argument centers around the belief that a fresh election should have taken place in the state after the Supreme Court nullified the election of Emeka Ihedioha, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The party asserts that the apex court, prior to voiding Ihedioha’s election, had already declared that Uche Nwosu, who finished second in the 2019 governorship poll, had dual nominations. Nwosu had allowed himself to be nominated by both the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Action Alliance (AA).
While Nwosu’s appeal was pending before the Supreme Court, APGA sought to be joined as an interested party in the case and filed an application requesting the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a fresh election in Imo State within 90 days. The party contends that, in the eyes of the law, Imo State currently lacks a duly and validly elected governor based on two judgments of the apex court in appeals number SC/1384/2019 and SC/1462/2019.
According to Mr. S. I. Nwoga, counsel to the applicant, “In the eyes of the law, the absence of a duly and validly nominated candidate sponsored by a political party as a constitutional precedent has made it imperative for INEC to conduct a fresh election in Imo State.”
The Supreme Court had previously ruled that Nwosu contested and won the primaries held by the APC on October 6, 2018, and his name was submitted to INEC as the APC’s candidate for the March 9, 2019, governorship election in Imo State. However, the court nullified his nomination, citing Section 37 of the Electoral Act 2010, which rendered it invalid.
APGA argues that the Supreme Court, in its judgment in the second appeal number SC/1462/2019, which led to the removal of then-governor Emeka Ihedioha of the PDP, did not establish that Senator Uzodinma was duly nominated by the APC.
The party has petitioned the Supreme Court to be permitted to join and participate in the substantive suit filed on July 9, 2020. In addition, APGA has requested an order from the apex court to exclude the APC and Action Alliance (AA) from participating in the upcoming fresh governorship election in Imo State within 90 days.
The Supreme Court communicated the hearing date to the involved parties through a notice dated October 16, 2023, signed by one of its Registrars, Usman Bature. The outcome of this hearing could have significant implications for the political landscape in Imo State and beyond.
