Supreme Court Judgement Review: Real Reason Why Hearing On Ihedioha’s Application Was Adjourned

There have been different contributions to the narrative on why the Supreme Court adjourned hearing of the application for setting aside of its misjudgement on January 14, filed by His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Ogbuagu Emeka Ihedioha CON KSC FNIFST.

Though, some people have tended to trivialise normal request for adjournment in lawsuits, by presenting legal proceedings like in football game or WWE wrestling where if a team failed to appear for a match, it’s walked over and the team that appeared will be declared winner! Court things don’t work that way.

What then was the real reason(s) why the Supreme Court was adjourned. Because I am involved, I know that after the case was called up, the lead counsel reported to the court that the response by Senator Hope Uzodimma were served on Gov. Ihedioha only on Monday, February 17, 2020; a day or even less than a day before the hearing on Tuesday, February 18.

It was, therefore, most cogent and expedient that Gov. Ihedioha’s request for a short adjournment to take a look at the response by Uzodimma. This is a standard global legal best practice of law and judiciary. A seasoned legal practitioner will ask for time to study an opponent’s response so as to know how to go about the case.

Did anybody expect the very vast and versatile legal team of Gov. Ihedioha to receive responses a day before the hearing and still go on with it? That would have been the highest height of display of ineptitude and incompetence. But leading the team is Chief Kanu Agabi SAN, CON, a former Attorney General and Minister of Justice of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

It’s pertinent to report that the processes by Gov. Ihedioha had been served on Uzodimma about two weeks ago. But he sent his response to Gov. Ihedioha a day before the hearing proper. Yet, that’s not a precedent, as parties in court are known to sometimes serve their responses a day to the case, for one reason or another.

Under such circumstance, the proper thing to do is to ask for adjournment to study the response and continue on the adjourned date. Law is supposed to be meticulous in its processes and procedures.

Actually, at about 9:33 a.m that Tuesday, February 18, the Justices filed into the court. Then, after the case was called, Hon. Justice Tanko Mohammed, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), on behalf of the justices, apologized for their late entry.

He explained the delay as, in his own words, “due to some small small problems”! The legal proceedings, however, began as leading counsel for Rt Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, Chief Agabi SAN, CON stated that Gov. Ihedioha received the response by Uzodimma less than a day before the hearing. He therefore requested for a short adjournment of one week.

It was on that premise that a resolution was reached that the adjournment be granted and the court will resume hearing on the application on Monday, March 2, 2020.

That’s what happened and led to the adjournment. Any other reason differrent from the foregoing is falsehood. The insinuations about Gov. Ihedioha buying time or that his legal team weren’t ready and serious are baseless.

Between Gov. Ihedioha and Uzodimma, who should be buying time at this time? Certainly, not the duly elected governor of Imo State, who can’t wait a minute to resume work on rebuilding of Imo State.

It’s also utterly insincere for anybody to suggest that Gov. Ihedioha’s legal team were not prepared, ready and unserious, whatever those terms mean!

Let it be reminded that after the misjudgement on January 14, it took a little over two weeks for Gov. Ihedioha’s legal team to package their application for the setting aside of the misjudgement and filed it on February 5. The records confirm that Uzodimma was served the next day or so!

But he served his response a day before the hearing. It’s left for members of the public to determine who between the two exhibited unpreparedness, unreadiness and unseriousness! Who was marking time?

Until soon again when I serve you another bouquet of untainted truth of the matter, let all Imolites continue to live and let others live! Life of the water, life of the fish. Let the kite perch, and let the eagle perch! Imo belongs to all Imo people! Imo State must be rebuilt, by the grace of God!
Sundiatapost