Supreme Court dismisses Ogboru's bid to unseat Uduaghan, his lawyer to pay N8m surcharge

The Supreme Court again on Monday dismissed a suit filed by the Democratic Peoples Party's candidate in the 2011 governorship election in Delta State, Chief Great Ogboru.

The apex court had earlier on June 17, 2013 dismissed the appeal he filed against a judgment of the Court of Appeal which affirmed the election of Emmanuel Uduaghan of the Peoples Democratic Party as the governor of Delta State. Dismissing the fresh application in its ruling on Monday, the court described it as an abuse of court process. The seven-man panel of the apex court led by Justice Walter Onnoghen, awarded N8m cost against Ogboru's lawyer, Dr. Dickson Osuala,  for filing such a frivolous application. 'This application is an abuse of the process of the court and it is accordingly dismissed. I award N2m as cost to each of the respondents in this matter to be paid by the counsel for the plaintiff,' the court ruled. The four defendants in the suit are Uduaghan, the PDP, the Independent National Electoral Commission and the Attorney General of the Federation. Ogboru had through his counsel asked the court to set aside its earlier judgment. Osuala had premised  his application ‎on the alleged defect in section 285 (7) of the 1999 constitution. The said provision created a limit of 180 days for electoral dispute to be completely dispensed of. The lawyer had argued that due process was not followed by the National Assembly in inserting that provision into the constitution. He argued that it was thus wrong for the apex court to have relied on it to dismiss his client's case in the court's earlier decision.

The apex court  had noted that it was not the business of the court to amend the constitution but that of the National Assembly.