Court Affirms Uche Ogah As Abia APC Governorship Candidate

The Federal High Court, Abuja, on Friday affirmed Dr. Uche Ogah as the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Abia state.

The judge, Binta Nyako, in a judgement on Friday, nullified the candidacy of Ikechi Emenike recognised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the party’s candidate for the next year’s poll in Abia State.

Both Messrs Ogah and Emenike had emerged as APC’s governorship candidates in Abia State from parallel primaries.

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But delivering her judgement on the dispute over the conflicting claims to the party’s governorship ticket in the state, Mrs. Nyako nullified the indirect primary election that produced Mr. Emenike as APC’s standard-bearer.

The judge ordered the APC to transmit Mr. Ogah’s name to the electoral umpire as a candidate for Abia State’s governorship election for 2023.

Similarly, Mrs. Nyako ordered INEC to accord due recognition to Mr Ogah as APC’s candidate.

Mr. Ogah, through his lawyer, Solomon Umoh, had filed the suit seeking to compel the APC and INEC to recognise him as the party’s duly elected candidate for next year’s poll in Abia State.

Mr. Umoh, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), argued that the primary election that led to his client’s emergence was monitored by INEC officials.

He told the court the purported primary election that produced Mr. Emenike was not monitored by INEC.