• As S’Court affirms Emenike’s guber candidacy
Abia State governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Prof. Gregory Ibe, has faulted the Court of Appeal’s ruling that the party would no longer contest the governorship election for not complying with Federal High Court order to conduct a repeat primary within 14 days and elect a new candidate.
The period so given by the Abuja High Court had expired and the party did not comply.
In his reaction, yesterday, Ibe announced his outright rejection of the Court of Appeal’s judgment on the matter between him and one of his opponents, Chikwe Udensi, saying: “My lawyers have been briefed to immediately commence Cross Appeal proceedings at the Supreme Court to upturn the unfair judgment.
He said that he received, with utter dissatisfaction, the verdict of the Abuja Court of Appeal on the matter between him and Udensi, describing the ruling as not only strange and ridiculous, but totally unjustifiable.
He urged his supporters and party members to remain law abiding and calm as he files a an appeal at the Supreme Court against the judgement that sustained the nullification of Abia APGA governorship primary election of May 29, 2022, by Justice Binta Nyako of the Abuja High Court, due to alleged irregularities.
He said: “According to information available to me, the judges denied Udensi his twin prayers of either being declared governorship candidate of our party or ordering a re-run of the primary election.
“In a manner tantamount to playing Father Christmas, the court surprisingly erred by granting a request that was not pleaded by declaring that our party should not present any candidate during the governorship election of March 11.”
Noting that nature abhors vacuum, he said that he remains the governorship candidate of APGA in the state until, otherwise, determined by the Supreme Court.
SIMILARLY, the Supreme Court has affirmed Ikechi Emenike as the duly elected governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abia State.
The apex court, in a unanimous decision, yesterday, declared the appeal against Emenike’s candidacy unmeritorious, and, accordingly, dismissed it.
The Supreme Court affirmed the judgement of the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, which upheld Emenike as the authentic candidate of APC for Abia governorship election.
Justice Tijjani Abubakar, who delivered the decision of the five-member panel of Justices of the Supreme Court, in dismissing Emenike’s appeal, held: “There is nothing meaningful in this appeal; it is, therefore, dismissed.”
