The Abia State Governorship Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 election, High Chief Ikechi Emenike, and the APC have faulted the Saturday ruling of the Court of Appeal, which affirmed the election of Dr Alex Otti of the Labour Party, (LP).
In their reaction to the ruling of the Court of Appeal, High Chief Emenike and the Abia State Chapter of the APC, yesterday, said they would go to the Supreme Court “in search of justice.”
In a statement, the Abia State APC Chairman, Dr. Kingsley Ononogbu, said “the party’s Governorship Appeal: High Chief Ikechi Emenike vs. INEC & 6ors had become another victim of the Nigeria judicial abracadabra.”
Ononugbo continued: “The court of appeal Lagos division dismissed our Appeal against the unconstitutional declaration of Alex Otti as the governor of Abia State in the March 18 General Election.” He said APC and Emenike’s team of lawyers became apprehensive when 8pm the night before the ruling news started flying that judgement would be delivered the following day.
“When our Lead Counsel, Tochukwu Maduka, SAN, contacted the Deputy Registrar, Court of Appeal Lagos, he apologized and sent a hearing notice of the day’s sitting at about 9am. It is unfortunate that democracy and rule of law have been reduced to this pitiable level in our dear county. In the circumstance, we will not even relent.
“We urge our members to keep calm as we are prepared to take steps and approach the Apex Court in the land for a final review of this obvious truncation of justice for curious reasons. We are aware that the journey to freedom had never been an easy one. We urge everyone to continue to remember our leader, High Chief Ikechi Emenike, – the last man standing in our prayers.”
Mr. Nnamdi Adiele, a lawyer who said he was in the Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal to witness the judgment, said: “Justice Habeeb Adewale Abiru abandoned the law, shunned justice and embarked on a voyage of political fallacies and personal barb.” He expressed worries about “the fate of Nigeria, if clear constitutional provisions are so regrettably treated.”
Another lawyer, Ken Dike, wondered why qualification criteria would be used to remove the Governors of Plateau and Kano states as well as the Abia Central Senator among others but ignored in the case of Otti, and “Party waiver will be made to be superior to both the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Electoral Act.”
He said that these “strange pronouncements need to be tested at the Supreme Court.”