Supreme Court of Nigeria

The Supreme Court of Nigeria on Monday struck out an appeal filed by Senator Magnus Abe concerning the party’s primaries for various elective positions in Rivers State.

APC did not participate in the last general elections in the state after an order of the trial court nullifying the party’s primaries was upheld by the apex court.

Abe, leader of a faction of the All Progressives Congress in Rivers State,  had in his own appeal, urged the Supreme Court to determine which of the party’s factions between his and the one led by the Minister of Transport, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi held valid primaries ahead of the 2019 general elections.

But a seven-man panel led by the Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Tanko Muhammad, on Monday, unanimously struck out the appeal on the grounds that the notice of appeal was defective.

The apex court said the notice of appeal was not in compliance with the order of the court.

It added that the notice of appeal violated Section 285 of the Nigerian Constitution.

It also stated that the notice of appeal could not be validated by an amendment in view of the fact that the 14 days required by the law to file the appeal had expired.

Earlier on Monday, the APC’s lawyer, Mr Jibrin Okutepa (SAN), opposed the hearing of the appeal.