The Senator Ali-Modu Sheriff-led faction of the of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has approached the Supreme Court, seeking to stay all proceedings that emanated from the special panel constituted by the President, Court of Appeal, Zainab Bulkachuwa, to hear all appeals from the Ondo State Chapter of the Party, pending the outcome of its appeal at the Supreme Court.
The appellants in the notice of appeal filed at the Supreme Court on November 11, through their counsel , B.E.F Nwofor (SAN), challenged the decision of the Panel that sustained the application filed Mr. Eyitayo Jegede (SAN).
They also challenged the decision of the panel in which it refused to disband itself.
Jegede, the governorship candidate of the Senator Ahmed Markafi-led faction of the Party, has challenged the judgment of the Federal High Court that ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to remove his name and replace it with that of Jimoh Ibrahim.
The appellants in the latest notice of appeal is praying an order of the court to stay all further proceedings and further hearing in appeal No. CA/A/551C/2016 between Jegede and Prince Biyi Poroye and 10 Others at the Appeal Court, pending the hearing and determination of the appeal filed on 11 at the Supreme Court, against the rulings delivered by the Appeal Court Special Panel.
Bulkachuwa had set up a three-man Panel to handle all the appeals emabating from two PDP factions. The Justice Ibrahim Salauwa’s Panel was set up following allegations of bias raised by Poroye against the earlier Panel.
The appellants also prayed the Supreme Court to take notice of the proceedings in the list court of November 7, where the appellants herein, as 1 to 9 respondents in the court below, raised the issue of jurisdiction of the court below to hear the motions pending before it on various grounds including the ground that there was no valid notice of appeal filed in the court below.
The appellants on one of the grounds contended that the Justices erred in law when they held that the decision of the President, Court of Appeal to constitute a special panel to preside over the Ondo appeals was not against the normal administrative functions of her office.
They argued, among other issues that the three-member Panel erred in law and was in breached of Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution in its decision that allowed the 1st respondent (Jegede) leave to appeal against the decision of the Federal High court of October 14.
Prince Biyi Poroye, therefore, prayed the Supreme Court, to among other requests, set aside the verdict of the Court of Appeal and grant all his reliefs as contained in his petition.
Poroye and the other eight appellants also argued that the panel was wrong to regard the unchallenged depositions as speculative when there was nothing on their record that made the depositions far-fetched whereby the existence of the special panel confirmed such.
The appellants, who noted on their ground 5 (a) of the appeal that the affidavit in support of the application was neither challenged nor controverted by the respondents added that the special panel failed to apply the principle of law that the rules of natural justice equally apply to both judicial and administrative decisions.
The appellants further prayed the Supreme Court to allow their appeal and also set aside the ruling of the lower court.
In another appeal filed by Poroye against Senator Ahmed Makarfi and three others at the Supreme Court, the appellants prayed the apex Court to take judicial notice of the appellants dissatisfaction with the decision of the Court of Appeal of November 10.
They maintained on the first ground one of the appeal that the Appeal Court failed by law to have held that they had no jurisdiction to entertain the motion filed by the first and second respondents on November 2.
They prayed the court to grant all the seven reliefs sought in favour of the applicants and to also allow the appeal.
Meanwhile, a letter from the Supreme Court confirming the notice of appeal dated November 14 and signed by one Josephine Ekperobe has been transmitted to the Court of Appeal.
No date has been fixed for the hearing of the appeal.
The Court of Appeal, Abuja Division had last week, allowed the application filed by Jegede to challenge the judgement of the Justice Okon Abang which ordered INEC to remove his name and replace it with that of Jimoh Ibrahim.
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