Imo govt dispels fear over Supreme Court judgment saga

Imo State Government has urged people of the state, majority of who are supporters of Governor Hope Uzodimma, to remain calm over the opposition’s attempt to seek enforcement from the Supreme Court on its 2020 judgment concerning the double nomination of Uche Nwosu for the 2019 gubernatorial election.

It described the latest suit by the opposition as a distraction and mere academic exercise since the apex court had laid to rest all issues pertaining to the election when it affirmed Uzodimma as the elected Imo governor.

Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Declan Emelumba, in a statement, in Owerri, yesterday, declared that since it was obvious to the opposition that they were losing the coming governorship elections to Uzodimma, they contrived the suit to cause confusion and distract the electorate.

He described the latest effort as an exercise in futility because “the so-called ruling on Nwosu was on nomination and not as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the said election.”

He said: “They have forgotten that Nwosu later went to the Federal High Court to challenge the candidature of Uzodimma and lost. That judgment was never appealed.

“Second, they appear to suffer selective amnesia that, according to the relevant Electoral Act, matters pertaining to pre-election matters are statutes-barred. So, clearly, they are out of time.”

Emelumba wondered why anyone would wait a few days to the election to file a suit that is dead on arrival “if not for the fact that they know they will be defeated by Uzodimma and APC” in the November 11 governorship contest.

“Are they now tired of calling Uzodimma the Supreme Court governor that they are shamelessly going to the same Supreme Court?” he asked.

The commissioner accused the opposition of engaging in abuse of court processes and wasting taxpayers’ money.

He wondered what else they were looking for since the Supreme Court ruled that Uzodimma was the validly elected governor and threw out the suit by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) seeking a judicial review of the judgment.

Emelumba called on supporters of the governor and the entire Imo electorate to ignore the antics of the opposition and go ahead to vote for APC in the November 11 election.