The Court of Appeal sitting in Owerri, Imo State, yesterday, struck out an appeal filed by the 2015 governorship candidate of All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), Dr. Alex Otti.
Otti was challenging the decision of a lower tribunal sitting in Umuahia, which refused him an extension of time to call more witnesses in a petition he filed against Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Delivering judgment in the petition, the Chairman of the Appeal Panel, Justice Jimmy Bada, noted that the lower court did the right thing by refusing the extension of time sought by the applicant.
Bada, who delivered the uimous judgment by a five-member panel, stated that it would amount to waking up the dead if after the parties had submitted their final addresses fresh witnesses were admitted.
The court noted that the application failed on the three issues presented before the court, saying, “It was also wrong for the applicant to fail to frontload the pre-trial material from the lower tribunal.”