The appeals filed against the candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Accord in Rivers State have been dropped by the PDP’s national leadership, which is chaired by Dr. Iyorchia Ayu. The change came about a few days after the national leadership changed the attorneys handling these cases who had been selected by Governor Nyesom Wike.
On Friday, when the case was set for hearing at the Appeal Court in Port Harcourt, attorney for the Accord Abdulhamid Mohammed informed the court that he had received a request for the withdrawal of the appeal from the PDP. Kingsley Chukwu, the PDP’s state legal adviser, backed up his assertion. Mohammed subsequently asked the court to throw out the lawsuit.
The petition was granted, and the PDP’s appeal was rejected by a three-person appeals panel chaired by Justice Joseph Ekiye. Mohammed, an attorney representing the Accord, claimed in a statement made outside of court that although they were there for the hearing, they were surprised by the withdrawal. We came to court to hear the appeal, but as soon as we arrived, we discovered that the appellant had filed a notice of withdrawal. They have the right to revoke the appeal they filed.
“We told the court that we are not opposed to their application for the withdrawal. But we now urged the court to dismiss the appeal, because we have changed brief and then the matter adjourned for hearing. So, it is like a runaway battle.
That was what happened and the appeals were all dismissed based on their own application and our own application to dismiss the appeal.”
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