Apparently unhappy with winding judicial path undertaken by Great Ogboru the Supreme Court Monday in Abuja awarded N8m as cost against Dr. Dickson Osuala, counsel to Chief Ogboru of the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) for what it termed as an abuse of the process of the apex court.
To benefit from the N8m are Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, Governor of Delta State, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) who are to get N2m each.
The Supreme Court in a unanimous ruling delivered by seven Justices said the case instituted by Dr. Osuala on behalf of Ogboru amounted to an affront on the nation’s judiciary as well as an abuse of the court process.
“The said N8m is awarded as cost against the person of Dr. Dickson Osuala and is to be paid from his pocket to the respondents “, said the apex court in a landmark ruling on Monday.
Ogboru, through his counsel, had unsuccessfully tried to get the Supreme Court to reopen his case challenging the election of Dr. Uduaghan as Governor in the 2011 gubernatorial election in the state. It is the third time the DPP standard bearer will be making such a move.
But the Supreme Court panel presided over by Justice Walter Onoghene blamed Dr. Osuala for not advising his client rightly and embarking on a clear case of gross abuse of the court process. The N8m slammed on Dr. Osuala is for the said abuse and a deterrent to others who may attempt similar move in future.
The justices further noted that Ogboru through his counsel wanted to resurrect a dead and buried horse, and warned that this would be the last time such a case should brought before the court.
In a reaction at the end of the hearing, Dr Uduaghan through the Secretary to the Delta State Government (SSG), Comrade Ovuozourie Macaulay said the case and all such divisive battles were of God to deal with accordingly.
He said Monday’s ruling was a vindication that no man can fight God, hoping that Ogboru and his ilk would have learnt a lesson and allow the state to move forward. “Our case has always been in the hands of God. And like we said, God’s Case has no appeal. That’s what the Supreme Court has affirmed today and we hope Ogboru and his people would have learnt a lesson and realised that it is time to allow the state to move forward”, he stated.
Reacting to the judgement, the state Commissioner for Information, Chike Ogeah, said: “In its judgment today, May 26, 2014, on the suit brought by Chief Great Ogboru asking the Supreme Court to reverse itself on the already settled issue of the 2011 governorship election in Delta State, the learned justices threw out the case and ruled the suit amounted to gross abuse of court process. More remarkably, the learned justices awarded a cost of N2 million to each of the respondents to be paid for by the counsel to Chief Ogboru. By the judgment, the learned jurists of the apex court have once again affirmed its status as the custodian and protector of the rule of law and jurisprudence. Every legal practitioner and, indeed, diligent follower of the electoral process had known that the counsel to Chief Ogboru had embarked on a vain process which intention neither served the interest of the litigant nor the judiciary.
”The suit was intended to inflict violence on our jurisprudence and inflict great damage on the doctrine of “stare decisis”. The fact that the learned justices ruled that the counsel to Chief Ogboru should directly bear the cost of N2 million awarded to each of the respondents underscores the need for counsels to exercise caution in advising their clients.
“Even in the desire to maximize returns from clients that have entrusted their bid for justice to them, upholding the integrity of the judicial institution and protecting the interest of the clients must remain paramount.
“We commend the learned Justices of the Supreme Court for the enduring lessons passed to all legal practitioners by this landmark ruling that will to a great extent ensure responsible litigation and representation in all levels of Nigeria’s courts”.
