The Supreme Court has imposed a fine of N40 million on Mike Ozekhome SAN, for filing a frivolous, vexatious, and irritating motion before the court in respect of Imo state governorship in 2019.
Before slamming the fine on him, the Supreme Court had earlier on Tuesday, December 5, dismissed an application by Emeka Ihedioha of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) seeking to be issued a certificate of return as the rightful governor of Imo state.
Ozekhome is the lawyer of Ihedioha. He was fined the amount for bringing a motion before the Apex Court seeking to revalidate the suit that removed him as governor of Imo state in 2019.
The senior lawyer was ordered in a ruling by Justice Tijani Abubakar to personally pay the N40M fine to four respondents he dragged before the court.
Those to be paid are the Action People’s Party (APP), Uche Nnadi, Uche Nwosu and the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC.
Ihedioha had in the application through Ozekhome argued that if the apex court recognised Nwosu as the candidate of the APC, there was no legal basis for its judgment which sacked him and declared Uzodinma who was also sponsored by the same APC, as the valid winner of the governorship poll.
The party reckoned that the Supreme Court did not rule on the validity of Uzodinma’s candidacy as it was not challenged by Ihedioha and the PDP in the appeal marked SC/1462/2019.
Ihedioha, however, sought the court for a consequential order, directing the Independent National Electoral Commission to issue a certificate of return to him as the validly elected governor of Imo state in the 2019 poll.
But prior to the ruling on the matter on today, one of the justices on the panel, Justice Okoro, had drew the attention of the counsel for the applicant, Mike Ozekhome, SAN to the risk of filing frivolous application or seeking vexatious request, saying it would not be tolerated.
He said, “In the atmosphere we are in now, we will not entertain speculative matters. You must come to this court with a genuine matter. Counsel knows the truth before any matter is brought to court. Recently people bring in impossible matters to the judiciary then they go to social media to denigrate the court. You know we do not have jurisdiction. This is an election-related matter, you know the 60 days given to us by the constitution had elapsed.
However, Ozekhome, citing a plethora of cases insisted that the court had jurisdiction to hear the matter.
He said, “This court has jurisdiction to determine this matter. We are urging the court to give effect to the judgment of this apex court in SC 1384/2019 delivered on Dec 20, 2019. This court should not uphold illegality. Nowsu was involved in double nominations.
“Four years after, the court determined that Chris Ngige was wrongly sworn in because of the Illegality involved in his emergence, it was taken that he was never sworn in. I urged the court to hear the case.”
Justice Tijjani Abubakar who read the judgment held that the application lacked merit, and was frivolous and vexatious.
He said the court lacked jurisdiction to determine the matter, adding that the 60 days stipulated to hear the election matter had since elapsed.
Abubakar, subsequently fined Counsel for the PDP, Mike Ozekhome, SAN, N40m for bringing the matter before the court.
He said, “The application is an election-related matter. Where do we find jurisdiction to hear this application?
“Our position is that we have no jurisdiction. This is a calculated attempt to relitigate the matter. The application is frivolous and vexatious. It is totally lacking in merit. Counsel for the applicant is hereby ordered to pay N40m to the listed parties in the matter.”
Justice Abubakar held further in the ruling that the request was strange, frivolous, baseless, unwarranted, vexatious, and irritating, stressing that the motion was a calculated design to demonize the Supreme Court.
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