Justice Amina Augie, of the Supreme Court, yesterday, withdrew as a member of the panel set up to hear the appeal case on the Abia State governorship election.

The development forced an indefinite adjournment of the case pending when the Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen would replaced her on the panel with another Justice.

Justice Augie’s decision was based on allegations of bias levelled against her by one of the parties in the matter.

She said she could no longer sit on the panel hearing the appeal numbers 10 and 11 filed by Samson Ogah as well as the one by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on the ground that there was a sentiment expressed by one of the parties in a previous sister case.

Augie disclosed that a party had accused her of influencing the constitution of a four-member panel of Justices of the Court of Appeal that heard the petition challenging the election of Okezie Ikpeazu as governor of Abia State in Owerri, the Imo State capital, where she was the Presiding Justice of the Appeal Court division.

On that note, the five-man panel of justices of the Supreme Court hearing the appeals adjourned the matter to a date that will be communicated to all the parties in the matter.

Justice Bode Rhodes Vivour, who presided over the panel, said “once a Judge is accused of bias in any case, the ideal thing to do is to withdraw from the suit.”

He said a new panel would be reconstituted to hear the appeals and he would contact the acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen to get a date that would not be too far, so as to dispense with the appeal as soon as possible.

Earlier, the court had struck out the application dated December 30, 2016, filed by Friday Nwosu, through his counsel, A. C Ozioko, on the ground that the, “application appeared to be partially overtaken by event”.

The said application prayed the court to hear and determine the appeal based on the appellant’s brief only.

The Court of Appeal in Abuja had, in August last year, set aside the judgment by Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which sacked Governor Ikpeazu of Abia State from office over alleged false tax information.

The court, in a unanimous decision vacated the June 27, 2016 verdict of Justice Abang and held that the court erred in law and occasioned a miscarriage of justice against Ikpeazu.


http://sunnewsonline.com/abia-guber-tussle-supreme-court-hearing-stalled/

Sorry to abia state, I know their newly collected allocation has been shared as usual to stall case against the govt in power.

hisgrace090:
Sorry to abia state, I know their newly collected allocation has been shared as usual to stall case against the govt in power.

Am telling you....

Observing..............