2023 Enugu Guber: Appeal Court Rules In Favour Of Edeoga As LP Candidate

An Abuja Court of Appeal has ruled that Hon Chijioke Edeoga is the authentic candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 Enugu governorship election.

The appellate court on Friday, January 6,2023, set aside the judgment of Justice Evelyn Maha of the Federal High Court, Abuja, that quashed Hon. Edeoga’s nomination as the gubernatorial candidate of the Labour Party in Enugu State.

Edeoga’s nomination was in November, set aside by the High Court upon a suit brought by Everest Nnaji, who claimed that he was excluded from the Labour Party gubernatorial primary election.

However, in its judgment on Friday, the Court of Appeal restored Edeoga as the authentic candidate of the Labour Party for the Enugu governorship race. 

The Court of Appeal criticised Justice Maha of the Federal High Court for going on a voyage of discovery. 

The court adopted the four issues raised by Barrister Alexander Obodo SAN, counsel to the Labour Party.

On the first issue, the Court agreed with the submission of Obodo that since Everest Nnaji did not participate in the primary election, he lacked the locus standi to challenge the outcome and that the lower Court should have dismissed his suit.

The court wondered how Justice Maha could have arrived at such a strange decision given the fact that the Supreme Court had passed several judgments on the issue of who is an aspirant entitled to bring an action. 

The Court of Appeal then ruled that even the respondent’s brief filed before it by Everest Nnaji’s lawyer was incompetent having been filed out of time.

Therefore, it allowed the appeal, set aside the judgment of Justice Maha and affirmed Hon Chijioke Edeoga as the authentic candidate of the Labour Party for the Enugu State gubernatorial election.