The Abia State leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC), on Friday, slammed a chieftain, Kingsley Ononogbu for allegedly marauding a federal high court in Abuja with the ousted factional APC Governorship candidate in the state, Ikechi Emenike with falsified results of the conducted parallel indirect gubernatorial primaries staged-managed and held in Umuahia, by a faction of the Abia APC.
Mr Ononogbu chairs a faction of the party in Abia state which produced Emenike as the All Progressives Congress candidate for the march 2023 governorship election in Abia state at a conducted parallel gubernatorial primary election which took place in Umuahia, the state capital.
However, the latest criticisms by the Abia chapter of the APC is coming barely few weeks ago a federal high court sitting in Abuja sacked Mr Ikechi Emenike who was the immediate past Pro-chancellor and the Chairman of the Board Council of University of Nigeria Nsukka in Enugu state as the APC Governorship candidate in Abia state following the outcome of the conducted parallel primaries and the decision of the national leadership of the party to field the latter in the ballots.
AFRIPOST recalls that the federal high court presided by Honorable Justice Binta Murtala-Nyako in Abuja had in November 11 while delivering her judgement in a suit filed by former minister of state for mines and steel development, Dr Uche Sampson Ogah, held that the indirect primary election, which produced Emenike, was in total disobedience to a letter forwarded by the national leadership of the All Progressives Congress to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that it would adopt a direct mode of the primary election in the state.
The high court also held that the direct primary election of 26th and 27th May 2022, which produced Ogah, was valid as the Resident Electoral Commissioner in charge of Abia State endorsed it.
Miffed by the recent court verdict removing him as the APC Governorship candidate in Abia state, Mr Ikechi Emenike had late November 2022 filed appeal
Earlier, the Abia leadership of the All Progressives Congress in a statement by the State Publicity Secretary, Chief Offor Okorie, made available to journalists in umuahia, on Friday, maintained the state factional chairman of the party, Kingsley Ononogbu and co-travellers have continued to parade inside court premises with Ikechi Emenike with forged and doctored election results which according to the state leadership constitutes serious criminal offence and culprits liable to jail sentence.
His words: “What Ononogbu and his group are doing by parading a factional Governorship Candidate of the party in Abia with a falsified results is a crime not only to the society but to humanity. The parallel gubernatorial primaries which Ononogbu and hirelings claimed it purportedly elected one Ikechi Emenike as APC governorship candidate in Abia state contravened the directive of the national working committee of the party and was never monitored by any officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“Mr Ononogbu and gangs of loyalists who are parading the so-called Ikechi Emenike as the party’s authentic Governorship candidate must be told that their recent anti party activities, evil machinations, political gimmicks and continuous impersonation by Emenike purporting to be the main and duly elected APC gubernatorial standard-bearer constitutes a serious crime.”
Offor noted with regret that the state leadership of the party is embarrassed on the recent and continuous unwholesome activities of these party men hence the party considered it now pertinent and imperative petitioning the Nigeria police on the alleged forgery offence against the Abia factional APC chairman, Kingsley Ononogbu, Emenike and his gang of loyalists, in order to save itself from destructive plots of these party chieftains which is design to curry cheap and selfish political gains ahead of the 2023 general elections.
According to the APC spokesman, “the Abia State chapter of the All Progressives Congress is embarrassed with their actions. And that is why a petition was written against them to the police on the 12th of November 2022 on the above forgery case. Ononogbu and his group was bill to appear in the police station to defend themselves on Thursday the 15th day of December 2022, rather they choose to be on the run”.
He further vowed that no amount of their hidings from security summons over the alleged forgery case established against them will deter the security agencies in the state not to investigate the falsification of results of the conducted gubernatorial primary election held in Abia state, informing a lawsuit will be instituted against them soon in a court of competent jurisdiction.