Published
on January 11, 2023
The Supreme Court on Wednesday in Abuja dismissed two Interlocutory appeals brought before it by an aggrieved Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship aspirant, Otunba Jimi Adebisi Lawal.
The two appeals were dismissed by Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun following their dramatic withdrawal by the appellant’s counsel, Chukwudi Enebeli.
Lawal and another chieftain of the PDP in Ogun State, Oladipupo Adebutu are locked in a fierce legal battle over who should fly the flag of the party at the coming Governorship election.
The odds have, however, favoured Adebutu’s candidacy following the dismissal of Jimi Lawal’s suit at the High Court and the Court of Appeal.
In the instant matter, Lawal had filed two appeals challenging the use of the Court Record transmitted by another party and the procedural policy in accepting and using the disputed record.
At Wednesday’s proceedings, a 5-man panel of Justices of the Apex Court subjected the appellant’s counsel to questioning on the desirability of pursuing Interlocutory appeals at the expense of the substantive matter.
The Supreme Court panel presided over by Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun informed the counsel that the court has no luxury of time to expend on Interlocutory appeals before coming to the substantive matter.
They further drew the attention of the lawyer to the fact that the appellant’s appeal is time-bound and must be tackled at the substantive level instead of dissipating energies on the interlocutory ones.
Enebeli who claimed to have got and understood the hint of the Justices subsequently applied for withdrawal of the appeals.
The Apex Court directed the counsel to go and proceed with how to get the substantive matter brought before the court within the time allowed by law.
