The Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused the state government of using the power of incumbency to cause the disqualification of its candidates by the court.
OsunDaily News gathered that the Rivers APC alleged that the government of Nyesom Wike under the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state is using the court to remove its candidates from the ballot.
The party as well alleged that Wike is doing all in his power to frustrate the APC because he is scared of losing the governorship election, since the PDP governorship candidate for the state, Siminialayi Fubara was unpopular.
The party’s reaction follows the alarming rate at which candidates on the platform of APC in the state were being sacked by the court.
OsunDaily News recall that a Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt on October 25 nullified all primary elections conducted by the Rivers APC over the unlawful exclusion of some party members as delegates to the primaries.
The presiding Judge, Justice E A Obeli had ruled over a suit filed by one George Orlu and four others as plaintiffs against Rivers APC.
Orlu and four others had sought nullification of all the party’s primaries over exclusion from the delegates list.
The Rivers APC was reported to have petitioned the Administrative Judge of the Federal High Court to transfer the case of the PDP against it from Justice Stephen Daylop Pam of the Court in Port Harcourt, because of his alleged relationship with Wike.
The APC filed an application before the judge to recuse himself from hearing the case, saying it was not sure of getting justice in his court.
But Justice Pam continued hearing of the matter even when the APC led by one of its National Assembly candidates, Ezekiel Amadio, protested against it at one of the sessions.
Also, the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt presided over by Justice Turaki Muhammed had also nullified the nominations of 12 state House of Assembly candidates of the African Democratic Congress(ADC) and the Action Democratic Party (ADP).
However, OsunDaily News gathered that an APC chieftain Chief Chukwuemeka Eze accused Wike of doing everything for judges in the state to rule in his favour in order to curry their favour.
Eze, a former spokesman for the defunct new PDP (nPDP), said “A man who is taking every other party to court, is it not to make way for his party to win the election?
“He is afraid that with a level playing field, his candidate will lose. The candidate that he has picked or imposed on his party, does he have what it takes? Can he speak in public?
“Can he make any reasonable presentation to the people? We know his background. He (Wike) has brought him because he is the one that can defend all the wrongs the governor has done during his tenure.
“That is why he is doing everything possible like taking people to court, hiring 200,000 aides and signing executive orders that he knows are not in line with the constitution, and doing everything undemocratic to win by all means. And then, you are bringing people from outside to come and sing your praises.”
On the matter that is before the Court of Appeal, Eze said, “But as being on the ballot, no Jupiter will stop the APC in Rivers State from contesting the elections.”
However, in his reaction, the state Commissioner for Information, Chris Finebone described the allegation as false.
He noted that “In 2019, no party cost the APC not to be on the ballot, except the APC. In other words, the APC caused its own problem. This time again, they also have their issues among themselves. So I don’t see how the PDP or other parties are responsible for what has befallen them.
“They should be mindful of what they say. They should respect the courts. The judiciary is in no control of any political party.
“The judiciary does its job based on the evidence brought before it. So, they should be mindful of what they say and be sure that they don’t disparage the courts.”
“For now, the PDP is busy inaugurating projects across the state. And we are focused on how to win the elections. The blind already is seeing and the deaf is already hearing that the PDP will completely win the elections in Rivers State and there is no question about it.
“The APC is alienated. They have alienated themselves and the others (parties) don’t deserve a mention.”
