From Okey Sampson, Umuahia
The leadership of the Abia State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has rejected Dr. Uche Ogah, former Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development as its governorship candidate, saying the former Minister has no legitimate claim to the governorship ticket of the party.
A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja had last week declared Ogah as the authentic Governorship candidate of APC in Abia State, nullifying the candidacy of Chief Ikechi Emenike.
In a statement issued at the weekend in Umuahia, and signed by the trio of state chairman, Dr Kingsley Ononogbu, state secretary, Hon Chidi Avajah, and publicity secretary, Obinna Atuonwu, Abia APC leadership distanced the party from Ogah, saying that he has no cause to rejoice over the judgment delivered in his favour by the Federal High Court.
The Abia APC leaders expressed dismay that “Uche Ogah and his dwindling number of associates have been living in fool’s paradise and feasting on the Court judgement that awarded him a phoney victory.
“When Ogah and his followers wake up from their slumber, they will realise that they have been sold a dummy which will not stand further judicial scrutiny,” the party leaders said.
The party leaders said that the need for them to make clarifications “has become necessary due to misinformation and disinformation going on within sections of the media space thereby painting a wrong picture of the true situation”.
According to them, the judgment delivered by Justice Binta Nyako was “a miscarriage of justice to the effect that a meddlesome interloper should be candidate of a party, mainly based on INEC report.
“The judge forgot to consider that the same INEC report stated they (electoral body) also monitored the primary election that produced Chief Ikechi Emenike as the governorship candidate of the party.
“More worrisome is that the trial judge was blind to the fact that Uche Ogah’s so-called primary was not conducted by the party – indeed, no primary election produced him,” the statement said.