The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abia State, High Chief Ikechi Emenike has welcomed with immense gratitude the Supreme Court verdict affirming him as the flag bearer of the party in the 2023 general election.
Reacting to the verdict delivered on Thursday by the apex in Abuja, Emenike described it as “a very important victory for the good people of Abia State, whose cause we are fighting for in our rescue movement”.
“This is also a very apt vote for the rule of law and human decency,” he said.
Alluding to the plethora of 24 cases filed against him, the APC governorship standard bearer stated that it was noteworthy that the Apex Court in the country has repeatedly warned senior lawyers to stop filing frivolous cases in courts and to know when to advise their clients to sheathe the sword.
He said that even with the unprecedented number of court cases instituted from within and outside Abia APC all challenging his governorship ticket, he was never in doubt about the authenticity of his candidacy which was “a product of due process and rule of law”.
The APC governorship hopeful thanked the Justices of the Supreme Court for affirming his candidacy in line with the four different Appeal Court judgments that had all unanimously returned the same verdict affirming him as the duly elected governorship candidate of APC in Abia.
While congratulating his rival, Uche Ogah “for fighting a tortuous battle”, Emenike extended a hand of fellowship to the former minister of state for mines and steel development.
He urged Ogah “to bury the hatchet and join hands with me to rescue and develop Abia”, declaring that “there is no victor, no vanquished”.
He said: “For those that really love Abia and care for the wellbeing of the people, this is the time to demonstrate it by joining our movement to rescue and develop Abia (RADA).
“I bear no grudges or malice against any individual or group that went to court to ventilate their grievances because they acted within their democratic and constitutional rights.
“Even our opponents in rival political parties that went to Court seeking to derail our Rescue Movement also acted within their democratic rights”.
While acknowledging the distractions caused by the unprecedented number of court cases filed by opponents and their proxies to nullify his candidacy, Emenike said that he has put all that behind him.
“The most important thing is that truth has triumphed over falsehood, rule of law has triumphed over rule of force and democracy has further strengthened its roots in our nation,” he said.
The Abia APC standard bearer expressed gratitude to Almighty God for seeing us through the difficult period. He also thanked the national and state leaderships of his party as well as the entire Abia APC family for standing by him all through the legal battles.
“Our eventual victory is the Lord’s doing and a big impetus towards the successful accomplishment of our avowed mission to rescue and develop Abia State,” he said.