The All Progressives Congress (APC) vowed on Sunday that no amount of blackmail or evil machinations by disgruntled party chieftains could deter the APC’s genuine desire to win the Abia gubernatorial election next year, describing its candidate in the state, Dr Uche Ogah, as the best thing that had happened to the party.
This comes on the heels of a rumored court ruling that jailed Ogah on forgery charges, as well as disinformation allegedly peddled by members of a parallel state structure of the party loyal to an ex-Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of the University of Nigeria Nsukka, Enugu state, Mr Ikechi Emenike, a factional governorship candidate in the state.
According to reports, the factional group claimed the alleged forgery committed by the ex-minister was prejudicial to them and their genuine governorship flag-bearer, High Chief Ikechi Emenike, and thus amounted to an offense contrary to Section 465 of the Criminal Code, which is applicable in Abia State.
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Previously, a federal high court in Abuja presided over by Justice Binta-Murtala Nyako dismissed Emenike and confirmed former Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development, Uche Ogah, as the genuine All Progressives Congress gubernatorial candidate in Abia State for the 2023 election.
The court ruled that the indirect primary election that produced Emenike was in blatant violation of a letter sent by the national leadership of the All Progressives Congress to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) stating that the state would conduct a direct primary poll.
The high court also ruled that the direct primary election held on May 26th and 27th, 2022, which produced Ogah, was legal because the Resident Electoral Commissioner in charge of Abia State approved it.
Earlier, in a statement issued on Sunday by the State Publicity Secretary, Chief Offor Okorie, the Abia chapter of the All Progressives Congress claimed that the reported conviction of the APC gubernatorial candidate by an Umuahia magistrate court cannot stand the test of time.
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According to Okorie: “The conviction is in total error and cannot stand judicial test. Ogah is hunted for truth and truths must always prevail. Even law enforcement agents know the truth, and truth must prevail against all darkness. Ogah is innocent.”
Continuing, Okorie reaffirmed the party’s earlier position and support for the recently concluded direct gubernatorial primary in Abia State, which elected Uche Ogah as the All Progressives Congress gubernatorial candidate, as monitored by the Independent National Electoral Commission across the electoral wards of the state’s 17 local government areas.
“On direct primaries, we stand. INEC monitored the direct primaries done in all the electoral wards of Abia State. Where did the forgery come from, if Ikechi Emenike and co think Dr Uche Ogah did not win the direct primaries as approved by the national working committee of the APC?
“Saying that he forged the primary election results, Ikechi Emenike should have tendered it in the federal high court Abuja that invalidated his candidacy or better approach the court of appeal to prove the forgery case against Uche Ogah, rather than bring himself so low to approach the magistrate court that does not have jurisdiction over the case.”
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Anaedoonline.ng notes that Ogah emerged as the All Progressives Congress’ Abia governorship candidate in the recently conducted gubernatorial primary elections for the upcoming 2023 general elections in Abia state on May 26th, 2022.
He was proclaimed the winner after receiving 141,952 votes, outnumbering his closest competitor, Paul Ikonne, who received 27,054 votes. Chief Ikechi Emenike received 9,446, Emeka Atuma received 7,429, Obinna Oriaku received 5,553, Alex Otti received 2,41, and Daniel Eke received 1,953 votes in the hotly contested direct primaries.
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