oludo: 48 hours to eternity …As Court of Appeal decides his fate tomorrow From GODWIN TSA , Abuja Tuesday, December 15, 2009 Prof. Soludo Photo: Sun Publishing More Stories on This Section The Supreme Court on Monday adopted a wait-and-see attitude on the appeal brought before it by former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against the ruling of the Court of Appeal restraining him from parading himself as PDP candidate for the February 6, 2010 election in Anambra State. The apex court will, however, take over the case on Thursday after the judgment of the Court of Appeal tomorrow. When the matter came up for hearing before the apex court, Justice Dahiru Musdapher adjourned proceedings to Thursday to await the judgment of the appellate court. The appellate court is to determine whether Soludo’s emergence as the PDP governorship candidate followed due process. A three-man panel led by Justice Mary Odili had fixed ruling for yesterday after parties in an appeal brought by Mr. Valentine Ozigboh, Mrs. Victoria Nwankwo, Mrs. Nkoli Imo and Mr. Ferdinand Okoye, all PDP governorship aspirants in the state, had adopted their written addresses. In the appeal lying before the apex court, Justice Mustapher and his team said they would await the decision of the Court of Appeal. The Supreme Court, bearing in mind the exigency of time asked parties to go and conclude all issues with the Appeal Court and come back on Thursday to allow it take full control of the matter. The fulcrum of the appeal before the Abuja division of the Court of Appeal is against the ruling of Justice Danlami Senchi of an Abuja High Court striking out the aspirants’ suit and consequently vacating an earlier order restraining the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from recognizing Soludo as a candidate for the election. The appellants are praying the Court of Appeal to set aside the judgment of the lower court and remit the case back to the high court for a de novo trial by a new judge. All efforts by Soludo and his party to convince the Appeal Court to vacate its interim order failed. But counsel to PDP, Olusola Oke who thought he could be clever than Soludo’s lawyer, Patrick Ikwueto (SAN) in persuading the court to discharge the interim order was completely ignored by the Justices. Justice Odili had, while issuing the interim order restraining Soludo from parading himself as the party’s candidate, said: “The matter is before us, anyone that does anything; that would be an action in futility.” She, however, promised accelerated hearing of the appeal. In their originating suit, the plaintiffs who are aggrieved party members had alleged illegality by the party in the selection process of Soludo which they claimed negated the party’s constitution and the guidelines for the election of candidates for the party. They further contended that the acts being complained of, occurred within the Federal Capital Territory on October 9 at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, a place within the jurisdiction of the court, adding also that the process of selection of Prof. Soludo as the party’s candidate for the Anambra State governorship election slated for February next year was illegal. In his objection, Soludo asked the court to dismiss the application seeking to stop him from parading himself as the PDP’s governorship candidate for election, arguing that the application was incompetent and that the court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain it. The appellant, however, contended that after a careful consideration of the provisions of the 1999 Constitution, the Electoral Act 2006 and the constitution of the party, it was clear that the court had the jurisdiction to entertain their case. According to them, “the learned trial judge failed to advert to Article 17.2 (b) of the 1st Respondent’s (PDP) constitution which provides that the primaries for its candidate for governorship of a state shall be held at the state congress thereof specially convened for that purpose.” The appellants further noted that the trial judge did not take cognizance of Article 17.2(g) of the party’s constitution which prescribed a minimum of two years membership of the party in order for a person to be eligible to stand for election into public office. While vacating the order, the trial judge admitted that he granted the October 23, 2009 restraining order without jurisdiction. He added that plaintiffs could either appeal against his ruling or go back to Anambra High Court, which he said had the jurisdiction to entertain the suit on the alleged violation of a court order made on October 7 by an Anambra High Court sitting in Aguata which restrained the PDP from holding its state congress on October 9 as scheduled. The court upheld the argument of Soludo’s counsel that Article 17 of PDP’s constitution and section 85(1) of Electoral Act 2006 that gave power to political party to nominate its candidate was a domestic issue that could not be adjudicated upon by any court. He relied on the Supreme Court’s case of Ehinlanwo V Oke and maintained that nomination of a candidate for an election was the exclusive preserve of a political party and that internal dispute resolution mechanism must be exhausted first before invoking the jurisdiction of the court. He further held that the PDP was bound by the provision of its constitution as it was not the court that drafted the constitution for the party. He said that the court would, however, ensure that the party’s action must be within the sphere of the provision of the constitution of the party. The court further heard that the alleged offence of the PDP was perfected on November 9, 2009 while the suit that culminated in the restraining order came after the nomination.