Supreme Court Ruling: No Victor, No Vanquished, Says Emenike

Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Umuahia

The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abia State, High Chief Ikechi Emenike, has welcomed with the Supreme Court verdict affirming him as the flag bearer of the party in the 2023 general election.

The verdict has elicited  jubilations and deep sense of relief among the Abia APC faithful, who had been waiting in suspense following the topsy-turvy outcomes of pre-election matters in the courts.

Reacting to the verdict delivered  yesterday  by the apex court 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. There is no victor, no vanquished. This is also a very apt vote for the rule of law and human decency,” he said.

This is the  second time in less than two months,  that  Emenike has been declared winner and authentic candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC’s), for the 2023 governorship election in Abia State.

In a unanimous judgment, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal against his nomination for lacking in substance and merit.

According to Justice Tijana Abubakar, who read the lead judgment, “there is nothing meaningful for the appellant to ask in this appeal and it is therefore dismissed. The judgment of the lower court delivered on December 23 is hereby affirmed.”

Justice Abubakar, meanwhile stated that this judgment affects other related appeals before the apex court.

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 had 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 andidacy 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 judgements 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 had 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.

Meanwhile, the leadership of Abia APC has equally hailed  the judgment of the apex court affirming candidacy of the  party’s flag bearer,

In a statement signed by the state chairman,  Dr Kingsley Ononogbu, the party not only welcomed the verdict but also called on the estranged members “to come home” and help actualise the party’s rescue mission.

The statement reads in part: “Today(yesterday) the leadership and the entire membership of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abia State received with utmost joy and high sense of relief the verdict of the Supreme Court of Nigeria affirming the candidature of our indefatigable Governorship Candidate, High Chief Ikechi Emenike.

“It has been a tortuous journey getting to this point where the apex court of the land has put to rest every doubts, disagreements and outright falsehood concocted to discredit our credible and transparent governorship primary of May 26, 2022.

“At the end of it all, democracy has triumphed; the rule of law has taken its right course. We thank the Supreme Court Justices for stepping in to save internal party democracy, which was put under serious strain by anti-democratic forces. We have, once again, proved that we stand for and practice true democracy.

“We salute our Governorship Candidate, Emenike, a man of great ideas and vision for his doggedness and uncompromising resistance against the retrogressive  forces and their avalanche of distractions.

“Emenike is leading our great party on a divinely ordained mission to Rescue and Develop Abia (RADA). That’s the reason the Almighty God has continued to grant him victories along the way and so shall it be till he leads Abia to the promised land. Amen.

“While we rejoice and are glad for the good things that our good Lord has done for us, let us not lose sight of the fact that Abia APC is one family. What has happened in our party was mere disagreement which is common occurrence in a family setting. It was not a fight. So, make no mistake about it: our stance is No victor, No vanquished.

“The most important thing now is that the disagreement has been resolved. We must come together as a family and pursue our collective interest. We must put away the bitterness and divisive politics of the past and embrace love, peace and togetherness.

“I therefore, make a special appeal to  Ogah and his supporters to come home and reintegrate into the APC family. We are eagerly waiting to receive them and accord them their rightful place as family members of Abia APC.

“The people of Abia are looking up to our party to liberate them from the hands of the perpetrators of bad governance. We can only achieve our avowed mission of RADA if we work together as a united, formidable force. Ndi Abia will not forgive us if we disappoint them in pursuit of personal ambition and group interests in place of the common good of all Abians.

“We must be vigilant because the evil forces holding this State down will not rest on their oars. They will continue to fight in collaboration with their agents. This is their last fight because they know their time is up.

“But with God on our side, the forces of darkness will not  triumph over the forces of light ably led by our high flying governorship candidate, High Chief Ikechi Emenike. Let’s remain steadfast. We shall overcome, to the glory of God and betterment of Abia, God’s Own State.”