The Supreme Court has imposed a hefty fine of N40 million on Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Mike Ozekhome for filing what the court deemed a frivolous, vexatious, and irritating motion in relation to the Imo governorship tussle, a matter that had been resolved since 2019.
The fine was levied against Ozekhome for submitting a motion before the apex court seeking to revalidate the suit that removed Emeka Ihedioha as Governor of Imo State in 2019.
Justice Tijani Abubakar, in a ruling, directed Ozekhome to personally pay the N40 million fine to the four respondents he brought before the court. The respondents include Uche Nnadi of the Action People’s Party (APP), Uche Nwosu, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The motion, considered frivolous by the court, sought a consequential order to compel INEC to issue a fresh Certificate of Return to Ihedioha, enabling him to complete a four-year tenure as the Governor of Imo State. Ozekhome argued that the incumbent governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma, unlawfully occupied the position that Ihedioha should have held for four years.
Among other claims, Ozekhome argued that the All Progressives Congress (APC) had no candidate in the 2019 Imo State Governorship election, contending that Uzodinma should not have been made governor on the APC platform.
However, the Supreme Court dismissed the motion, citing a lack of jurisdiction to entertain such a request. Justice Abubakar, in the ruling, characterized the motion as strange, frivolous, baseless, unwarranted, vexatious, and irritating. He further noted that the motion appeared to be a calculated design to cast aspersions on the integrity of the Supreme Court.
