The Supreme Court in a six to one judgment vehemently refused to set aside its January 14, 2020 judgment that removed Honourable Emeka Ihedioha of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as Governor of Imo State and replaced him with Senator Hope Uzodinma of the All Progressive Congress (APC).
However, Justice Centus Nweze however in a dissenting judgment set aside the judgment of the Supreme Court as a nullity. He held that the court was misled in declaring Hope Uzodinma governor and subsequently ordered his removal from office. According to him, Uzodinma failed to give evidence of how he won the election. He held that the votes, which was used to declare Uzodinma winner was in excess of the accredited votes for the election.
Despite the position of Justice Nweze, the Supreme Court led by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Ibrahim Muhammad in the split judgment held that it lacked powers to sit on appeal in its own judgment. The court held that the application by Ihedioha asking the court to set aside its judgment of January 14 on grounds of nullity was an invitation on the apex court to sit on appeal over its own judgment, which the court cannot do.
In the lead judgment delivered by Justice Kayode Ariwoola, the court held that granting the request of the applicants would open the flood gate by parties to all kinds of litigations. The court however held that parties in this case should bear their cost. Those who dismissed the application include the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Ibrahim Muhammad, Justices Sylvester Ngwuta, Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, Amina Augie and Mary Abba-Aji.
