High Chief Ikechi Emenike, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for governor of Abia State, has won again in the Court of Appeals.
The appellate court’s Owerri division upheld his status as a party candidate.
The Appeal Court ruled Wednesday that Daniel Eke v. APC & ORS, Appeal No. CA/OW/419/2022.
Eke, a governorship contender for the APC ticket in Abia, had disputed the results of the party’s primary election held on May 26, 2022, on the grounds that the election’s conduct had violated the Electoral Act and internal party rules.
Justice Evelyn Anyadike of the Federal High Court in Umuahia ruled against him, dismissing the case on the grounds that he lacked the legal standing to bring it. Eke wasn’t satisfied with the verdict, so he appealed it to the Owerri Court of Appeal.
The three justices on the appeal panel agreed that the indirect primary election held by APC that produced High Chief Ikechi Emenike as the gubernatorial candidate of APC in Abia State was genuine, and this decision was read by Hon. Justice Pemu Rita Nosakhare.
The appeal court also ruled that APC has the authority to choose the mode of its primaries and hold its primaries in any selected manner, as was done in Abia, where the party employed indirect form to conduct its governorship primary.
The court further determined that INEC must officially announce Emenike as the APC’s legitimately nominated candidate for governor of Abia State.
Most lawsuits, both internal and external to the party, have been filed against Emenike’s candidacy. At least 24 cases were pending as of the most recent count; some were brought by proxy.
On the other hand, the Abia APC gubernatorial candidate has won 23 cases at both the trial and appellate levels.