Court bars Anambra commissioner from joining anti-Obiano suit

A Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday dismissed an application by a serving commissioner in Anambra State, Mr. Tony Nnacheta, seeking to be joined as a plaintiff in a suit filed to unseat the governor of the state, Mr. Willie Obiano. Nnacheta, a former governorship aspirant in the state, contested the All Progressives Grand Alliance’s primary election which produced Obiano as the party’s candidate in the governorship election. Justice Ahmed Mohammed ruled on Tuesday that Nnacheta would become “a strange bedfellow” with the existing plaintiffs if his application was granted. The judge ruled, “I am of the considered view that the application for joinder, if granted, will only make the plaintiffs strange bedfellows. “They are being represented by different counsel, and the causes of action or interests are fundamentally different. “I find no merit in the application for joinder dated May 6, 2014, and same is accordingly dismissed.” The judge, after his ruling, adjourned the matter till Wednesday for hearing of the substantive suit. The plaintiffs, Messrs Ugochukwu Ikegwuonu and Keneth Moneke, had filed the suit before the governorship election took place, asking the court to disqualify Obiano as a candidate in the election for being in possession of two valid voter cards.