Member of Imo State APC Legal Team, National and State Houses of Assembly Election Petitions, Felix Obiosio, has said that Hon. Ikenga Ugochinyere should withdraw his statement against Hope Uzodinma, Imo state governor.
Ugochinyere had stated that Uzodinma’s “utterances, actions and fabricated charges” were all intended to obstruct his participation in the election.
In an interview with ARISE NEWS on Wednesday, Obiosio said that Ugochinyere has the legal right to approach the Court of Appeal, nonetheless, characterising Uzodinma as having manipulated the tribunal’s decision is ridiculous.
He said, “We expect that, as a legal practitioner, Ikenga Ugochinyere should have respect for the judiciary.
“I think Ugochinyere should withdraw his statement against, his excellency, the governor.”
Obiosio stated that it’s impossible to ignore the fact that the elections didn’t take place in more than 55 polling stations with over 21,000 registered voters, of which over 19,000 had collected their PVCs, meanwhile, Ugochinyere asserts that the Imo state governor is responsible for his election troubles but hasn’t provided any evidence to back up such claims.
According to Obiosio, the level of insecurity in these polling units was not severe enough to prevent the conduct of elections and emphasised that the absence of an election in those units was a circumstance that could not have led to the announcement of Ugochinyere as the victor of the election.
“Ikenga Ugochinyere was not a product of a valid primaries that could produce a valid candidate to participate in the 25th February general elections,” he said.
He stated that, according to legal standards, the primary elections held by the Imo state PDP at the Aladinma Shopping Mall Plaza yielded no valid outcome, and these elections were considered invalid, casting doubt on the eligibility of an unqualified individual to participate in the election.
He further stated that Ugochinyere failed to fulfil the sponsorship requirements outlined in the Electoral Act, leading to the court’s decisive decision to disqualify him from the election.
Obiosio stated that there are no security concerns in the 55 polling stations where elections were not held.
He also emphasised that there is peace in the Ideato North and South constituency, saying “The protesters are those who have been arranged by Ikenga Ugochinyere to display a kind of drama to say there is no peace in Ideato North and South, but there is absolute peace.”
Leadership reported there indications that Imo State governor, Hope Uzodinma, is alleging that Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, is supporting a member of the House from their state, Ikenga Ugochinyere, in a way that undermines both him and the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.
It was also reported that the governor viewed the decision to appoint the lawmaker to lead the juicy committee as an inappropriate boost to an opposition figure and a challenge to his authority as the state’s governor and chairman of Progressive Governors Forum (PGF).
Following this, Obiosio said the governor only made his recommendations to the Speaker of the House of Representatives regarding the qualifications of the individual to be designated as a committee chairman and questioned where in the law the governor’s actions are prohibited.
