‘We didn’t use thugs to invade Supreme Court’

Tonye Cole Campaign Organisation in Rivers State has denied claims that it used thugs to invade the Supreme Court yesterday.

The spokesperson, Ogbonna Nwuke, said the Supreme Court merely adjourned hearing in a matter brought before it by Henry Bello, counsel for Ibrahim Umar and 22 others, seeking to nullify the All Progressives Congress (APC) congresses in the state.

He explained that the apex court said it would hear the matter on January 21, 2019, an outcome that pleased the organisation.

“Although efforts were made to delve into the competence of appeal no 198, which was not before their lordships, it took the intervention of a Justice of the Supreme Court (JSC) to stop the proceedings. The justice had mildly reminded the court that he was not a member of the panel set to hear appeal No 198,” he said.

Nwuke recalled that the appeal, which was earlier adjourned till March 8 next year, was re-listed for hearing yesterday, following an application by Bello.

He explained that efforts to delve into other issues not connected with the matter on the court’s list were truncated.

Cole’s spokesman said that one of the justices drew the attention of the presiding judge to the fact that he was not a member of the panel.

This, according to him, immediately left the justice with only one option: to adjourn till January 21 to hear the application for abridgement of time.

“We need peace built on equity and justice and we are in the right place to find it. Let us ignore cheap propaganda and falsehood. Irresponsible talk about thugs and our director-general invading the Supreme Court is fake news from desperate minds. Tonye Cole and his campaign team are a symbol of peace, and no amount of provocative behaviour will divert us from this path,” Nwuke added.