Supreme Court bars APC candidates in Rivers from contesting

The Justice Mohammed Dattijo-led five-man panel of justices, on Friday, upheld the annulment of the governorship primaries conducted by a faction of the Rivers state chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, saying it is fraught with irregularities.

APC has since reacted to the verdict so as the governor of Rivers, Nyesom Wike.

In a statement signed by the party’s spokesman, Senibo Chris Finebone said: “Whereas the APC is reluctant to join issues with anyone when it concerns matters before the court, however, we believe that the general public deserve to be protected from calculated mischief and misinformation especially those dispensed through the social media and rumours. Therefore, it has become highly necessary to re-state what transpired at the Supreme Court.”

It reads: “Today, the apex court ruled that, in line with provisions of the Constitution of the APC, the chapter legal adviser at the time the matter commenced, Mr. Chieme Chinweikpe, rightly represented the party directly or through legal appointees of his instead of Mr. Lateef Fagbemi, SAN who was seconded by the legal department of national headquarters of APC. This means that the judgment given by Justice Chiwendu Nworgu was a consent judgment following thereto.

“Irrespective of how we feel about the pronouncement, the Rivers State Chapter of APC has to accept that decision having come from the highest court of the land.

“However, we make haste to state that the decision on legal representation was the only matter the Supreme Court made pronouncement on today. We expect the apex court to rule on the all-important issue of jurisdiction of whether the State High Court of Justice Chiwendu Nworgu was right to delve into what we believe was an internal affairs of the APC with regards to primaries.

“We urge the mainstream media and innocent members of the public to resist the lure of mischievous individuals who are inundating the social media and entire cyberspace with jaundiced versions of today’s Supreme Court ruling or churning out outright fake news with a view to deceiving the public, deluding themselves with short-lived comfort and feathering their nests from their paymasters.

“We are convinced that no harm has been done to the candidacy of our governorship candidate, Pastor Tonye Cole and the others. We believe that, by the grace of God, we shall triumph and ultimately be on the ballot for the 2019 elections.

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Wike tweeted his sympathies to Tonye Cole, the APC governorship candidate, labeling him an errand boy.

“Tonye Cole, you have my sincere sympathies, but politics isn’t for errand boys. Amaechi can’t rule Rivers State by proxy. Rivers people can’t let that happen.”

Tonye Cole, you have my sincere sympathies, but politics isn’t for errand boys. Amaechi can’t rule Rivers State by proxy. Rivers people can’t let that happen.

— Governor Wike (@NyesomWlKE) February 8, 2019