On December 1, 2022, the Federal High Court in Abuja nullified the APGA governorship primaries in Abia which was conducted on May 29 and ordered a new primary election within 14 days
This judgement has elicited different opinions in our dear party. We know that some people in the party are insisting that the order of the court should not be obeyed, while others disagree.
As concerned stakeholders of the party in Abia State, we call on the party hierarchy, at the state and national levels to do the right thing and give the party direction. It will be in the best interests of the party to obey the court order so that APGA will have a candidate in the election. As a political party, we must understand that respect for the rule of law is sacrosanct.
We will follow whoever emerges as the authentic candidate from the primaries. The party risks not having a candidate for the election, an election which we believe we can win and are already making unrivaled progress.
Although the party has the right to appeal, we advise that it is wise to obey the court order first and conduct fresh primaries in order to be on the safe side, because we do not know the outcome from the appeal court and would not want to lose out because of wrong calculation. If the appeal court overrules the trial court, it is still in the party’s favour. If the primary is conducted and the appeal court upholds the trial court’s judgement, it will still be in the party’s favour; if we obey the court order.
Failure to obey the court order could result to irreparable loss for the party, as we may not have a candidate in the governorship election. We should do all we can in order to be on the ballot. As the 14-day ultimatum winds down, the national hierarchy of the party should come to the party’s rescue.
The National Chairman of the party also risk a jail term for flouting the orders of the court if eventually he does not conduct fresh primaries in Abia.
We, the party stakeholders, do not want to be enmeshed in crisis at this critical point where we are deep into the campaigns and have made reasonable progress in convincing the electorate to stand with us in our quest to rescue and reposition Abia. We cannot tell Abians that we have the solution when we cannot solve our internal problems. Now is the time to make wise decisions, obeying the court order will be the wisest of them all.
Signed:
Chief Ikechi Dimgba – Abia South
Ambassador Boniface Ogbu – Abia Central
Chief Augustine Eke – Abia North
For Concerned APGA Stakeholders – Abia State
