The Imo State Governorship candidate of the Labour Party, Senator Athan Achonu, on Friday, alleged that his court case was deliberately championed by his critics and opposition to give prospective voters a notion that he was a bad product.
Achonu, who is aiming to become the first physically-challenged governor in the state, made the claim barely 24 hours after the Supreme Court dismissed an appeal brought against his candidature ahead of the November 11 Imo governorship election.
The case was thrown out on the grounds of lacking locus standi.
A panel of five justices led by Iyang Okoro also cautioned the appellant for abusing the court process and wasting the time of the courts all through from the lower courts.
Two other respondents in the matter were the Independent National Electoral Commission and a candidate from the Lamidi Apapa faction, Joseph Ukaegbu, popularly known as Ikenga, whose request to seek a consequential order was also rejected by the Supreme Court.
Reacting to the judgment, Achonu described the frustration brought about by the legal tussle all the way from the lower courts to the apex court as a deliberate psychological warfare aimed at making Imo voters see his candidacy as controversial.
He said, “The Imo people are bent on removing the incumbent APC government in the state because of the atrocities being committed. It (my Supreme Court case) was a psychological warfare. The whole idea was to make the people of Imo believe there was a problem with my candidature and, by that, concluded that if they vote for Achonu, it will become a wasted effort. The whole show was a psychological warfare they were waging on the people. But thank God, the Supreme Court today laid that rest.
“I refused to join issues with anybody or discuss anything on my court cases. I didn’t think it was necessary because first, I was not sued. Secondly, I won a free and fair election. Thirdly, INEC published my name and did not announce that I was no more a candidate. That was the only time I would have been bothered. I have been concentrating on my campaign.”
Briefing newsmen at the LP candidate’s residence in Abuja, counsel to Labour Party, Okwudili Anozie, also disclosed that the judgment in favour of Achonu legitimizes Abure as the national chairman of LP.
“The Supreme Court has put the antics of Basil Maduka and his accomplice Joseph Ukaegbu, alias Ikenga, to an end. Upon the exposure and collapse of their lies before the court, Basil’s counsel immediately withdrew his subterfuge appeal that was aimed at giving credence to Ukaegbu’s sham and non-existent primaries.
“The apex court didn’t entertain Ukaegbu’s counsel’s ignorant attempt to seek for a consequential order, which even a first-year student of law knows cannot be sought by a Respondent, especially in this case where the appeal was dismissed,” he stated.
