•Governor Ohakim Photo: Sun News Publishing

More Stories on This Section

Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) governorship candidate in Imo State, in the re-scheduled April 28, 2007 election, Senator Ifeanyi Araraume, will wait till May 19 for the Court of Appeal sitting in Port Harcourt to rule on his oral application based on the prayers in his brief.

In the resumed sitting of the Court of Appeal, in the case brought before it by Senator Araraume against Governor Ikedi Ohakim of Imo State, the court said that a panel would be formed to look into Araraume’s application.

When the case was called up for hearing on Wednesday, counsel to Senator Araraume, Nnoruka Udechukwu (SAN), had sought to make an oral application based on the prayers contained in his brief, which he said was filed before his application.

However, counsel to Governor Ohakim, Chief Bon Nwakanma (SAN), opposed the argument on the grounds that there was no need to entertain oral arguments for it had already been argued in the appellants brief.
He further contended that admitting the oral application would amount to hearing the appeal in installment.
In his comment, the presiding judge, Justice Lawal M. Garba, inferred that it appeared that the motion was unusual. He posited that the application or the determination thereof will have no effect on the merit or otherwise of the case.

Justice Garba ruled that since both the interlocutory motion and the application are incorporated in the same brief, the case would be adjourned for a panel, which is to be formed, to sit on it.
He therefore adjourned hearing till May 19, 2008.

Senator Araraume, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the April 28, 2007 re-scheduled governorship election in Imo State, had filed an appeal urging the court to set aside the decision of the state’s election petition tribunal, which upheld the victory of Governor Ohakim of the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA).