Ogodo Heads to Supreme Court as Appeal Court Revokes His Chairmanship

The Court of Appeal sitting in Benin, Edo State on Friday, May 17, 2019, struck out the earlier judgement of the Federal High Court, Asaba, which sacked the Jones Erue-led state executive committee, nullifying the nomination of Chief Great Ogboru, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege and other candidates nominated by the Erue leadership for the 2019 elections.

Recall that Justice Toyin Adegoke, on March 18th, 2019 in her judgement, suit number FA/ASA/CS/76/2018, declared the plaintiff, Cyril Ogodo, as the authentic chairman of APC in the state, sacking the Jones Erue faction that produced Great Ogboru, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege and others as candidate.

The plaintiffs had sought 13 reliefs, among which is a declaration that the Ogodo-led executive committee was the authentic state executive of the APC, declaration that candidates who emerged from the primaries conducted by the Ogodo-led executive were the authentic candidates and the court granted all the reliefs sought by the plaintiffs.

Justice Toyin Adegoke also held that the primary election conducted by the Jones Erue leadership was null and void. She further invalidated the nomination of Ogboru, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege and other candidates nominated by the Erue leadership for the 2019 elections.

Upturning the judgement of the lower court in a unanimous judgment delivered by Justice Mohamad Shuaibu, the appeallate court struck out the case for lack of jurisdiction.

According to Justice Shuaibu who anchored his judgement on technicalities, holds that the lower court has limited jurisdiction, and that in inter party matters, the Federal High Court lacks jurisdiction to entertain  and therefore the case is struck out.

Reacting to the judgment, Chief Cyril Ogodo whose faction was earlier declared as the authentic executive of the party in the state, vowed to challenge the judgement at the Supreme Court.

While urging his supporters to remain calm, he said, “all hopes are not lost, God has the final say, we shall meet at the Supreme court. “