Okwe Obi, Abuja
The All Progressive Congress (APC) has warned a former Attorney General of the Federation, Kanu Agabi (SAN) to desist from influence peddling and veiled intimidation of the Supreme Court in a matter currently before it.
While reacting to a written address wherein the former justice minister asked the Supreme Court to reverse itself on the January 14, 2020 judgment that sacked Hon. Emeka Ihedioha as governor, the APC in Imo State decried the veiled threats by Agabi.
In a statement issued by the APC Chairman in Imo State, Chief Marcelinus Nlemigbo, the party frowned at the choice of words by Agabi who asked the Supreme Court to redeem itself.
The party said that the imputation of Agabi’s statement was that the Supreme Court erred in law and brought the judiciary to ridicule. The APC noted that Agabi who is now the Counsel to Ihedioha wants to use his former exalted position to intimidate the judiciary instead of arguing on points of law.
According to the party, the matter that led to the sack of Ihedioha was that INEC “deliberately and fraudulently in collusion with PDP excluded lawful votes cast in 388 polling units in favour of APC”.
It noted that whereas APC was able to produce the copies of the result as given to its party agents by the same INEC, the electoral body and PDP were unable to produce a contradictory proof.
The APC further argued that the submission of PDP and Agabi that votes accredited to Governor Hope Uzodinma and APC were higher than the accredited voters was untenable because the figures being bandied did not actually include the excluded votes from the 388 polling units. The party said that it was surprised that Agabi elected to represent Ihedioha whom his original lawyers had already given up knowing that the exercise of seeking a review of the Supreme Court verdict was a mere academic exercise that is futile.
It stressed that Agabi, having realized the futility of the exercise, decided to use intimidation and influence peddling to pursue a matter that is dead on arrival.
It accordingly warned the former minister to stop insulting the sensibilities of the justices of the Supreme Court all in the name of representing a “client with a lost case”.
Meanwhile, the Imo State Chapter of Oil and Solid Mineral Producing Area Landlords’ Association of Nigeria(OMPALAN) has called on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to stop distracting Governor Uzodinma from delivering the dividends of democracy to the people of the state.
The State Chapter Chairman, Chibunna Ubawuike, who made this known while speaking with newsmen in Abuja, recently, said that the protests staged by the party in the state were deliberate moves to distract the governor from fulfilling his mandate to the people.
Ubawuike, an All Progressives Congress(APC) stalwart, said that his organisation, like other sons and daughters of Imo State, were solidly behind Uzodinma, who was earlier denied of his mandate to bring succour to the people.
“My organization, OMPALAN, wants to express its support for the government of Hope Uzodinma.
“And we want the world know that OMPALAN worked to ensure that his mandate was retrieved and we thank the Supreme Court for doing justice to his case by declaring him the governor on January14. “We want to let the world know that all the political demonstrations that the ousted PDP government in Imo State is embarking on is not acceptable.
“No right thinking Imolite will come out to demonstrate against the government of Governor Hope Uzodinma,” he said.