Supreme Court affirms MacDonald Ebere as Imo APC Chairman

The Supreme Court has affirmed MacDonald Ebere as the rightful chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Imo State.

This followed its unanimous judgment setting aside an earlier ruling by an FCT High Court which recognised Mr. Dan Nwafor as the chairman.

In the Supreme Court judgment read by Justice Adamu Jauro on behalf of four other justices, it was held that the FCT High Court lacked jurisdiction to have heard the suit ab initio.

“The trial court lacked the territorial jurisdictional competence to have entertained the suit in the first place, hence rendering the decision it reached a nullity.”

The Supreme Court further held thus: “The law is settled that a suit should be filed in the High Court of the state in which the facts constituting the cause of action occurred; that is the High Court of the state in which the events occurred.”

It further held that for the first respondent to have left Imo State where the events in dispute occurred and rushed to Abuja to file the suit amounted to “forum shopping and a gross abuse of court processes.”

The Supreme Court therefore struck out the appeal.

“The suit together with the processes filed right from the trial court are hereby stuck out. Parties are to bear their respective costs.”

The other Justices who presided over the matter are Olukayode Ariwoola, Amina Adamu Augie, Uwani Musa Abba Aji and Abdu Aboki.