By Vincent Kalu
A five-man panel of the Court of Appeal sitting in Owerri, has in a unanimous judgment struck out the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), governorship aspirant in Abia State, Sir Friday Nwosu, against the Abia State governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu.
The court also fined him N100, 000 in favour of the governor, who is the third respondent in the appeal.
The verdict ended all the legal tussles in the state governorship election that trailed the December 8, 2014, PDP primary election.
Nwosu had appealed the judgment of the lower court, which dismissed his case alleging tax forgery by the governor.
In the lead judgment, Justice Jimi Olukayode Bada, noted that the application dated June 12, 2017 and filed on June 13, 2017 in which the third respondent/applicant prayed for an order striking out or dismissing the appeal because it stood on the ground that, the Appeal Court had on December 2, 2016, stayed further proceeding in the appeal, pending the determination of another appeal in the Supreme Court between Friday Nwosu vs Uche Ogah and three others.
According to Justice Bada, the appeals were determined by the Supreme Court against the appellant in favour of Governor Ikpeazu, who was the third respondent, on May 12, 2017.
He pointed that further to the said judgment, Nwosu’s appeal had become a spent and academic exercise, stressing that, “proceeding with the hearing of the appeal in the particular circumstance of the decision of the Supreme Court will be tantamount to inviting this Court of Appeal to review or sit on an appeal over the said judgment of the Supreme Court delivered on May 12, 2017”.