The Media Rights Agenda (MRA) and the International Press Centre (IPC) have appealed a Federal High Court judgment that dismissed their case seeking to compel the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) to investigate former Ebonyi State Governor David Umahi.
The rights organizations had filed a complaint against Umahi in April 2021, alleging he abused his office and breached his oath when he ordered the arrest of a journalist and banned two journalists for life from entering government facilities in the state.
In the suit, MRA and IPC asked the court, among other things, to issue an order of mandamus compelling the CCB to carry out its duties as outlined in the Third Schedule to the Constitution, particularly Paragraph 3(e), and investigate their complaint against Mr. Umahi.
The Federal High Court in Abuja, presided over by Justice Obiora Atuegwu Egwuatu, had dismissed their suit on November 29, 2024, ruling that MRA and IPC failed to prove their petition was delivered to the CCB and its Chairman.
Justice Egwuatu also expressed concern that the two organizations may be “crying more than the bereaved” as the affected journalists had not made any complaint to the CCB themselves.
The appeal, filed through Abuja-based lawyer Noah Ajare, challenges the court’s decision on four grounds.
In their first ground of appeal, MRA and IPC argued that the Federal High Court failed to properly consider evidence of service, including emails sent to the CCB’s official address and courier evidence with waybill number 7186272155, which they said established service on October 21, 2021.
The organisations contended in their second ground that the court wrongly ruled they lacked legal standing as NGOs to bring the action on behalf of the journalists.
They argued that as organisations dedicated to media rights and freedom of expression, they inherently possess standing to advocate for the public interest, and the court failed to consider the role of NGOs in promoting accountability and transparency.
In their third ground of appeal, MRA and IPC complained that the court dismissed the case without properly considering substantial public interest issues regarding freedom of expression, good governance and accountability.
They said the court did not address the implications of the CCB’s alleged failure to act on their complaint, which relates to societal accountability, and that dismissing the suit on technical grounds undermined the merit of substantive issues concerning public well-being and governance.
The fourth ground of appeal alleged that the court wrongfully dismissed the case without evaluating whether the CCB and its Chairman failed in their duty to investigate the allegations.
The organizations argued that the court erroneously concluded that lack of proof of service negated the entire case, rather than considering the CCB’s responsibility to address public complaints.
They added that the court’s dismissal ignored established principles regarding the duty of public bodies to investigate legitimate public complaints.
No date has been fixed for the hearing of the appeal at the Court of Appeal in Abuja.