Supreme court affirms Emenike as Abia APC guber candidate

The supreme court has affirmed Ikechi Emenike as the Abia governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the 2023 election.

A five-member panel of the supreme court led by Tijani Abubakar on Thursday affirmed the judgment of the court of appeal delivered in December 2022.

BACKGROUND

The Abia APC had held parallel governorship primaries that produced Uche Ogah and Emenike as candidates of the party.

On May 26, the APC declared Emenike the winner of the governorship primary in the state.

On November 11, Binta Nyako, a federal high court judge, sacked Emenike and ordered INEC to recognise Ogah as the party’s governorship candidate in the state.

Both APC and Emenike had filed separate appeals challenging the verdict delivered by Nyako.

Dan Eke, another aspirant, also filed an appeal challenging the judgment of the trial judge that recognised Ogah’s candidacy.

In December 2022, the court of appeal sitting in Abuja affirmed Emenike as the party’s candidate.

In the unanimous verdict, Olabisi Ige, who led the appeal court panel, read out the names of the party members sent by the APC national secretariat to conduct the governorship primary that produced Emenike, affirming that the exercise was valid.