A Federal Capital High, FCT, sitting at Kubwa, Abuja, presided over by Justice K. N. Ogbonnaya has reaffirmed his order that Chief Ikechi Emenike is the authentic Abia State candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
Justice Ogbonnaya has on November 29th, 2018 given the order that Emenike is the candidate of the party and directed INEC to publish his name as the candidate, which the commission failed to obey.
But Mr. Uche Ogah who was picked by the other faction of the party approached the court and filed a motion praying the court for a stay of execution of the order and for the order to be vacated.
However, ruling on the motion, Justice Ogbonnaya refused to grant the stay of execution motion and also refused to vacate the order but rather reaffirmed her order as valid until it is set aside.
The issue of who is the authentic candidate of the party in the State has been lingering for long following an order secured from an Abia State High Court sitting at Okpuala Ngwa which recognized the state’s party exco that produced Emenike.
But the Oshiomhole-led national exco recognised Chief Uche Ogar produced by the faction not favoured by the court order.
In her ruling, Justice Ogbonnaya refused to grant the request of both APC and Ogah’s motion for stay of execution of her earlier judgment which was in favour of the Emma Ndukwe led factional exco which produced Emenike as the governorship candidate of APC in Abia State.
Justice Ogbonnaya described the motion filed by Ogah and APC as “a clear abuse of judicial process, unmeritorious and un-grantable” and reaffirmed her judgment of 29th November 2018 as being valid until set aside.
Justice Ogbonnaya also condemned the action of APC and Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, for not forwarding Emenike’s name as the authentic governorship candidate of the party in the state.
Justice Ogbonnaya further ruled that the 1st defendant (APC) has no discretion to refuse, reject and/or neglect to act on the list of candidates forwarded to it for onward transmission to the 2nd defendant (INEC).
