The Court of Appeals has sacked Prof Greg Ibe as the governorship candidate of All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) in Abia State. The Appellant Court also ruled that APGA can not present any guber candidate for the March 11 polls in Abia State. In unanimous decision by a three-man Panel of Judges, the Appeal Court held that the failure of APGA to conduct a fresh guber primary election within a 14- day’s time frame as ordered by the Federal High Court, Abuja in December robbed it the opportunity to present a governorship candidate in the March 11 polls. The decision of the Court of Appeals ruling was read by Justice Stephen Adah.
But reacting to the development, the guber candidate of APGA, Prof Greg Ibe rejected the judgment, describing it as strange and preposterous. Ibe who said that the primary election that produced him remained the most transparent as observed by officials of INEC, APGA national officers, Journalists and Civil Society Organisations, wondered why anyone would claim that the exercise was tainted by irregularities.
Prof Ibe vowed to challenge the ruling in the Supreme Court where he believes, his mandate would be reaffirmed, adding that he remained the guber candidate of APGA. The founder of Gregory University, Uturu urged his supporters to remain upbeat, maintaining that the Supreme Court would throw away the ruling of the lower Courts. “This is not only a strange ruling but one that is preposterous and totally unjustifiable.
I thereby reject the judgement in its entirety and subsequently announce my decision to seek redress at the apex Court”, Ibe said. He explained that two prayers brought by Chief Chikwe Udensi against him before the Court of Appeals where he demanded that he be declared that the winner of the primaries were thrown away by the Court. Ibe wondered why the Court of Appeals went ahead to declare that APGA has no guber candidate.
He blamed his troubles on enemies of Abia who he said, are fighting his desires to salvage the State from years of backwardness. In December, Justice Binta Nyako of Federal High Court, Abuja nullified the May 2022 primary that produced Prof Ibe as candidate over alleged irregularities. Justice Nyako therefore ordered APGA to conduct a fresh primary within 14 days from the date of the High Court judgment. However, Ibe appealed the judgment.
