The Senator representing Anambra South senatorial district,
Ifeanyi Patrick Ubah, has told the Court of Appeal in Abuja that the Nigerian
Bar Association (NBA)'s stamp and seal on the originating processes of the suit
sacking him as a senator were allegedly forged.
This is contained in an affidavit filed by his
lawyer, Chief Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN), wherein he asked the court to allow him to
tender letters from the NBA showing that the stamp and seal had not been issued
by the NBA before the processes were filed and the court delivered its
judgment.
The senior lawyer also attached a letter from the
Chief Registrar of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT)
showing that payment for the court processes were made on September 25,
2019, that is about five months after
the court had delivered judgment in the suit. The court delivered judgment in
the suit on April 11, 2019.
He argued that the trial judge, Justice Bello Kawu,
assumed jurisdiction in the case when in fact there were no valid processes before him to confer jurisdiction
on him.
Responding to a request from Ubah's lawyers on the
date of payment of the filling fees in suit number CV/3033/2018, Anani
Anacletus Chuka vs Ubah Patrick Ifeanyi and others, the Chief Registrar of the
FCT High Court said: "We write to confirm that the payment in respect of
the above named suit was made on September 25, 2019, paid by Argo Ifunanya for
an originating summons with receipt No:11643044 and teller No: 0148979 and amount
of N4.300 in Aso Savings and Loans."
Following the same request by Ikpeazu to the NBA general
secretary seeking a confirmation of the date of application and issuance of the
association’s stamp and seal as per the said case, the NBA General Secretary,
Jonathan Gunn Taidi, stated that “pursuant to your request letter dated March 5,
2020, on the captioned subject matter, and upon investigation, findings
revealed that the stamp in respect of Ifunanya Nwando Aroh SCN101933 was
produced under Batch 137 on August 20, 2019, with expiry date of March 2020, while
the stamp in respect of Eziafa Samuel Enwedo SCN089053 was produced under Batch
150 on September 11, 2019, with expiry date of March 2020.
"Going by these findings, it is clear that the
suit was commenced on March 27, 2019, and April 2, 2019, and up to the time the
judgment was delivered, the stamp and seal had not been produced and issued by
the NBA, and that at the time the suit was commenced and judgment delivered,
the filling fees was not paid for."
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria is therefore asking
the court of appeal to allow his client's appeal challenging his removal by the
high court on the grounds that the entire proceedings and the judgment were
manifestly incompetent and a nullity.
In a further affidavit deposed to by a legal
practitioner in the law firm of Dr. Ikpeazu, Obinna Onya, he averred that the first
respondent, Anani, purportedly commenced suit no: FCT/HC/CV/3044/2018 by originating
summons on October 19, 2018, and upon a proper perusal of the originating
summons, Ikpeazu realised that the originating summons were not signed by any
counsel as required by law, which prompted the filling of a motion on March 3,
2020, praying the court to strike out the originating summons as being
incompetent, and should therefore dismiss the appeal.
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