By Ken Afor
The Supreme Court has imposed a N40 million penalty on Mike Ozekhome, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), for presenting a petition it considered frivolous and vexatious.
Ozekhome, legal representative of Emeka Ihedioha for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), had submitted an appeal associated with the 2019 Imo State gubernatorial election.
The Supreme Court rejected Ihedioha’s request to oust Hope Uzodimma from the position of Imo State governor.
The applicant asked the court to make a consequential order requiring the Independent National Electoral Commission to issue a certificate of return to Ihedioha, deeming him the officially elected governor of state in the 2019 election.
However, on Tuesday, the presiding Judge, Justice Tijjani Abubakar, examined the lead judgement and declared that the request was not justified, as well as being silly and abusive.
He stated that the court does not have the authority to decide on the issue, furthermore noting that the 60 days assigned to handle the electoral issue had already gone by.
Abubakar issued Ozekhome a fine of N40 million afterwards.
He was ordered to settle the N40m fine to the four people he sued in court including INEC, Action Peoples Party, Uche Nnadi and Uche Nwosu.
It would be recalled that Ozekhome had requested the court for a consequential order to oblige INEC to distribute a new Certificate of Return to Ihedioha in order for him to carry out a four-year tenure as Imo State governor.
Ozekhome filed a motion claiming that the All Progressives Congress had no part in the 2019 Imo governorship election, thus making Hope Uzodimma’s election as governor on the party’s platform illegal.
