Nnamdi Felix / Abuja
Hearing of an appeal instituted by former Governor of western Nigeria’s Ekiti state, Mr. Segun Oni, against Governor Kayode Fayemi was stalled on Tuesday over the former governor’s failure to serve the Independent National Election Commission, INEC, with the court processes.
The former governor wants the apex vourt to set aside an Appeal Court’s judgment which removed him from office and declared Fayemi as the elected governor of the state.
The court consequently adjourned till 5th March to hear the matter.
Oni is challenging his removal on the ground that the suspended President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami, who constituted and presided over the panel and wrote the judgment of the Appeal Court that sacked him from office had close affinity with Senator Bola Tinubu the alter ego of Fayemi’s party, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).
Oni contended that Justice Salami was biased and favoured ACN in the judgment and that such judgment should be set aside on the ground of bias.
In the course of court’s proceedings, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloma Mukhtar who presided observed that the Independent National Electoral Commission was not served with the hearing notice.
Chief Joe Kyari-Gadzama, a senior advocate of Nigeria, who appeared for Oni told the court that INEC was a nominal party but deserved to be heard in the interest of fair hearing.
He however begged the court to grant a short adjournment because of the nature of the case.
Justice Mukthar consequently adjourned the case to March 5th being the earliest available date.
In Oni’s brief which was prepared by Professor, Ben Nwabueze, also a senior advocate, Oni argued that bias constituted a proper ground for setting aside a judgment.
According to the former governor, “Bias or likelihood of it makes a decision a nullity and is therefore a sufficient ground for the lower court to set aside its own judgment.”
Governor Kayode Fayemi, however had filed a preliminary objection through his lawyer, Mr Olusola Baiyashea, a senior advocate of Nigeria. He averred that the Supreme Court did not have the jurisdiction to hear the appeal.
According to the governor, “This Honourable Court has no jurisdiction to entertain this appeal, being an appeal emanating from the decision of the court below in Governorship election petition of Ekiti State arising from the Governorship election of 2007 to which Section 246 (3) of the 1999 Constitution is applicable.”
He maintained that there was no valid appeal before the court and urged the court to decline jurisdiction in the matter.
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