By Chijindu Emeruwa

The Abia State Chairman of the All Progressive Congress, Hon Acho Obioma, has frowned at the activities of some disgruntled individuals to truncate the tremendous strides achieved by the party , especially, the genuine desire of the party to consolidate on its overwhelming acceptability and popularity among majority of the people of the state through unmerited lawsuits.

Obioma, who made this known in a statement issued to newsmen in Umuahia, the Abia capital, on Monday, against the backdrops of the exchange of brickbats by groups of party members of the party on the legitimacy of the party’s leadership in Abia state.

Recall that the Abia chapter of the All Progressive Congress has been experiencing internal leadership squabbles over the control of the party’s structure in the state after the APC paralleled state congress held in Umuahia, on October, 2021.

On March 20, 2022, an appeal Court presided over by Hon. Justice R.N Pemu, alongside two other justices, had in a unanimous ruling, dismissed the said motion to set aside the said special congress.

Nwankpa and co had gone to Abia High Court in Ukwa to challenge the emergence of Dr Kingsley Ononugbu as factional chairman of the state chapter of the APC .

The APC, by a preliminary objection, challenged the jurisdiction of the High Court of Ukwa to hear the said suit filed by Davies Jumbo and co on many grounds and most prominent being that it is on the internal/domestic affairs of a political party which no court of laws is clothed with jurisdiction to hear and determine in that the courts cannot run political parties for them.

However, while making clarifications in the matter during an interview with newsmen in Umuahia, on Monday, the Abia APC chairman, Acho Obioma, expressed his disapproval on approach of the appealate court to the motion filed by party members who doubled as applicants in the lawsuit.

He clarified that the court purportedly dismissed the motions filed by the concerned parties on the mere grounds that it wouldn’t assume jurisdiction in the matter, as political party politics or affairs is an family affairs hence all parties in the case should returned and resolved the internal crisis within the political party’s fold.

Obioma described the position of the Owerri appealate court as unacceptable to the leadership of the party in Abia state and further disclosed that the party leadershiip had taken the intra-party matter to the supreme court of Nigeria further its final adjudication.

The former member of the House of Representatives, also decried the misinformation in some social media platforms purporting that the appeal court affirmed a leadership-chaired by the factional state chairman, Kingsley Ononogbu, as the authentic executive of the All Progressive Congress in Abia,
urging all members and teeming supporters and indeed, the general public to disregard the falsehoods being dished to them by the opponents.

His words: “Nothing of such happened. The truth is very clear that the appeal court only stated in its comment that anything about political party politics is family affair or matter. They believed the parties in the appeal should go back to their political party and sort out their differences. The appeal court said they don’t want to assume jurisdiction on such matter, and they believed it is a family affairs, and that it should be resolved by the parties amicably.

“If anyone claiming otherwise, should come forward with that ruling by the court. But what I’m telling you in a summary is what just the ruling is all about. Even in the matter, they didn’t heard, discussed nor argued the matter before it. The appeal court said matters concerning political party would be better resolved within the parties, even still at that, we are not happy with that position. It could be recalled that so many judgments by different courts, giving verdict about party matters. And many of them had quoted that “any organization or political party who refuses to obey its constitution or own rules, had in that case, ruled that party members are free to approach the court, and the courts had also given ruling in favour of the party members.

“So for us, we are appealing already on the matter down to the supreme court. Because, we believed that they should have entertained and decided on the matter; and for them to claim they can’t assume jurisdiction in the matter, and that it is a family affairs, is unacceptable to us.

“I advise that people should try to present facts the way they are, not to feed the public with lies. And that’s the problem we have with the so-called Ikechi Emenike faction. You know, they believe in blackmail, lies and propaganda. The same way they claimed congress was held in Abia state, when election could be said to have taken place in Abia when it follow proper channels. So, I advise the public to disregard the lies from Ikechi Emenike and his cohorts and who are out with their undemocratic activity to thwarts the fortunes of the progressive party to their personal aggrandisement”.