By Moses Okorie
The Supreme Court has affirmed Professor Chukwuma Soludo, a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as authentic candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in the forthcoming governorship election of Anambra State scheduled to hold on November 6, 2021.
This affirmation came on Thursday, October 14, 2021, as the apex court ruled that Victor Oye is the rightful national chairman of the party.
Recall that Court of Appeal sitting in Enugu had on August 26, 2021 quashed an appeal filed by Jude Okeke and Chukwuma Umeoji against the judgment of a Federal High Court, Awka on validity of the candidature of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, in the November 6, 2021 governorship election in Anambra State.
Okeke, whose faction produced Umeoji in the primary, had claimed headship of the party after allegedly removing National chairman, Victor Oye.
He had, however, challenged the ruling of the Federal High Court, presided over by Justice C. C. Okaa, which held on July 19, 2021 that Oye remained National Chairman of the party and Soludo as the authentic candidate.
The Special Court of Appeal, Enugu, presided over by Justice Monica Dongban Mensem, struck out the appeal for lack of substance and awarded N100, 000 cost against Okeke in favour of Oye.
The court further held that another claimant to the chairmanship position of the party, Chief Edozie Njoku and all those purportedly elected alongside him as well as any other person purporting to have replaced him are not national officers of APGA and cannot lawfully perform the functions of that office.
Besides, a Court of Appeal in Awka had, on August 2, 2021, struck out the appeal, when it was brought by Okeke, but counsel to the defendant filed another application for leave to appeal against Justice Okaa’s judgment.