From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
The combatants in the protracted legal tussle over the soul of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) will know their fate on March 24 when the Supreme Court will deliver a ruling in a motion brought before it by Chief Edozie Njoku in respect of the crisis.
The apex court had written a letter to Chief Edozie Njoku on January 19, 2023, in which the court addressed him as the National Chairman of APGA and advised him to approach the Court by way of a motion for the regularization of the amended judgment of Justice Ukaego Mary Peter Odili on May 9, 2022.
Njoku’s lawyer, Chike Onyemenam, SAN, had approached the court pursuant to Order 8 Rule 16 of the Supreme Court Rules and the inherent powers of the Court, to correct a typographical error and slip in the lead judgment of the Court in the appeal presided over by and delivered by Justice Mary Odili (retd).
The appellant in the suit is urging the apex court to correct an accidental slip on page 13, lines 3 – 4 of its judgment where instead of stating the name of “Edozie Njoku” who was alleged to have been removed by the parties and whom the trial judge held to have been lawfully removed from his position as the validly elected National Chairman of APGA at the party convention held at Owerri in 2019, mistakenly inserted the name of Victor Oye whose name was never mentioned at the trial court.
Njoku in an affidavit he deposed stated that “on 14/10/2021, with Justice Mary Peter-Odili presiding, all the parties were heard in an argument on the merit of two substantive appeals with my counsel, Chike Onyemenam, SAN, fully canvassing arguments in respect of my preliminary objection and cross-appeal nos SC/CV/686/2021 and SC/CV/687/2021, respectively.
“This Honourable Court on the same 14/10/2021 presided over by Justice Peter-Odili decided that Judgment would be delivered in respect of Appeal No. SC/CV/687/2021 only and the same would be binding on Appeal No SC/CV/686/2021; but in delivering the said Judgment, the appeal number was wrongly stated in the Lead Judgment to be Appeal No SC/CV/686/2021, instead of SC/CV/687/2021; while the name of “Chief Victor Oye” was wrongly stated instead of my name, “Chief Edozie Njoku” at Page 13 as stated above.
“Thereafter, I applied by my letter to the Presiding Justice who read the above Lead Judgment for the above accidental slip or error to be corrected and His Lordship examined the Records and corrected the said error by removing the name of Chief Victor Oye and replacing same with my name, Chief Edoze Nioku at Page 13 of the Judgment.
“My said Application Letter and the corrected Lead Judgment are hereby exhibited and marked Exhibits “G” and “G””, respectively. “Chief Victor Oye (the 2nd Respondent) whose name was erroneously inserted and who had nothing to do with the case at the Trial Court reacted by getting the Inspector-General of Police to arrest me and charge me to Court without any investigation before a Bwari High Court for “Forgery of a Supreme Court Judgment” and in spite of the Letter from the Presiding Justice who corrected the said error, Justice Peter-Odili, clearly exculpating me, the victim of the above accidental sip, I was remanded in prison custody by the court pending ruling on my bail application.
“The said Letter from the Presiding Justice is hereby exhibited and marked Exhibit “H”.
“Thereafter, the social media, at the behest of Chief Victor Oye and his sponsors, published that Chief Edozie Nyoku had been sent to prison for forgery of a Supreme Court Judgment in collusion with Officers of the Supreme Court.
“The above false Publication and the Criminal Charge which I am now made to face simply because I applied for the correction of an accidental slip which was approved and the error or slip corrected by the Presiding Justice of the Supreme Court, are hereby respectively exhibited and marked Exhibit’s J.
“The above events which all occurred as a result of an accidental slip or error in the judgment of this court and my efforts to have the same corrected has led to a great political upheaval within my political party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and resulted in a heavy dent on my character and reputation,” Njoku stated.