Jubilation in Ebonyi as Supreme court affirms Odii as PDP guber - candidate

The people of Ebonyi state have been engulfed into jubilation as the Supreme Court upholds the nomination of Chukwuma Odii Ifeanyi as the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the State for next year’s election.

In a judgment, a five-member panel of the apex court, headed by Justice Amina Augie, unanimously upheld the appeal filed by Ifeanyi.

The court set aside the July 19 judgment of the Court of Appeal, which ordered a retrial of the suit between Ifeanyi and Senator Joseph Obinna Ogba on the dispute over who was the actual candidate.

The apex court restored the judgment of the Federal High Court delivered on June 7, 2022, which the Court of Appeal had set aside in its July 19 judgment.

The court held that the Court of Appeal was without jurisdiction to have heard the appeal filed by Ogba, because the notice of appeal filed by Ogba on June 17, 2022 was incompetent because he failed to first obtain the leave of court to appeal as an interested party.

The apex court further held that the incompetence of Ogba’s notice of appeal robbed the Court of Appeal the requisite jurisdiction, and as such, all the proceedings conducted amounted to a nullity, including the order made in the July 19 judgment setting aside the June 7 judgment of the Federal High Court, which had upheld Ifeanyi’s nomination.

The apex court also struck out the cross-appeal filed by Ogba.

Meanwhile, the governorship candidate of the People's Democratic Party(PDP) in Ebonyi State, Mr Ifeanyi Odii has hailed the supreme court ruling affirming him as the authentic candidate of the party for the 2023 general election.

Mr Odii in a statement dedicated the victory to the people of the state for keeping faith with him throughout the period of litigation.

He said: " Our victory today at the Supreme Court is dedicated to God Almighty and you the good people of Ebonyi State.

"Your steadfast belief and support for our collective aspiration for a better Ebonyi State, has yet again, received God's blessings.

"Like achieving anything of enduring value, the process can be tough but not beyond our resilience to overcome.

"Today, we are one step closer to our goal of making life better for you, our people. By the grace of Almighty God we shall succeed", he said.