The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Walter Onnoghen, who presided over the hearing of the appeal filed by the Ahmed Makarfi faction, announced that the date would be conveyed to the lawyers appropriately.
Nigeria’s Supreme Court sitting in Abuja on Monday reserved judgment in the legal tussle over the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Walter Onnoghen, who presided over the hearing of the appeal filed by the Ahmed Makarfi faction, announced that the date would be conveyed to the lawyers appropriately.
At the resumption of the hearing of the appeal, Chief Akin Olujimi, counsel to Ali Modu Sheriff, who leads the other faction, had urged the panel of five Justices to dismiss the appeal of Makarfi on the ground that the group lacked the authority to initiate the appeal.
Olujimi, leading several other lawyers, told the court that by virtue of the judgment of the Court of Appeal in Port Harcourt delivered on February 17, the Markarfi faction had lost all rights and authority to act in the name of the PDP.
In his own argument, Wole Olanipekun, counsel to the Makarfi faction, urged the court to dismiss Modu Sheriff’s objection on the ground that it lacked merit, adding that Makarfi had acted as the appellant at the Appeal Court.
Earlier, the court had ruled against Sheriff in his application that the appeal of Makarfi was not competent for the court to hear having been filed after three months as required by law.
Justice Onnoghen dismissed the application and upheld that the appeal was filed within the time limit of the court.
It would be recalled that Makarfi and Modu Sheriff have been embroiled in a leadership contest in the PDP, leading to factionalization of the party.
