The two appeals were dismissed, following their dramatic withdrawal by the appellant’s counsel, Chukwudi Enebeli. At yesterday’s proceedings, a five-man panel of justices of the apex court questioned the appellant’s counsel on the desirability of pursuing interlocutory appeals at the expense of the substantive matter.
The panel, presided over by Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun informed the counsel that the court had 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 then directed the counsel to go and proceed with how to get the substantive matter brought before the court within time allowed by law.
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