Chief Mike Ozekhome, a human rights activist and constitutional lawyer, was fined N40 million by the Supreme Court on Tuesday in Abuja for bringing a frivolous, vexatious, and annoying application before the Court in relation to the 2019 Imo Governorship election.
Ozekhome, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria SAN called to the Nigerian Bar over 42 years ago, was fined a hefty sum for filing a plea with the Supreme Court seeking to revalidate the action that ousted Emeka Ihedioha as Governor of Imo State in 2019.
Justice Tijani Abubakar ordered the Senior Lawyer to personally pay the N40M punishment to four defendants he hauled before the Court.
The Action People’s Party, APP, Uche Nnadi, Uche Nwosu, and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, are among those who would be compensated.
Ozekhome had requested the Court for a subsequent order to compel INEC to give a fresh Certificate of Return to Ihedioha in order for him to serve a four-year term as Governor of Imo in the plea that the Court deemed frivolous.
His complaint was that the current governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma, had illegally wasted the four years that Ihedioha was supposed to spend.
Among other things, Ozekhome contended in the motion that the All Progressives Congress APC had no candidate in the 2019 Imo Governorship election, hence Uzodinmma should not have been appointed governor on the APC platform.
The Apex Court, however, rejected the motion on the grounds that it lacked authority to hear such a request.
In his judgment, Justice Abubakar stated that the request was unusual, ridiculous, unjustified, unwarranted, vexatious, and unpleasant.
He went on to say that the move was a premeditated attempt to vilify the Supreme Court.
Details later.
