*Imo Gov Begs Ihedioha To Stop Further Litigation
The Court of Appeal sitting in Owerri, the Imo state capital yesterday struck out the appeal filed by Chief Emeka Ihedioha, the Governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last governorship election in the state, challenging the earlier ruling of the Election Petition Tribunal which dismissed his petition against the victory of Governor Rochas Okorocha in the 2015 governorship election, for lack of merit.
In a statement through the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Sam Onwuemeodo, the governor urged Ihedioha to put to rest further litigations on the governorship election.
The statement read in part, “having lost at the Election Petition Tribunal earlier before now and having also lost at the Appeal Court this time, the governor has no option other than to sincerely appeal to Hon. Ihedioha to allow the litigations over the governorship election of 2015 end at this level in the interest of the state and her people.”
According to Onwuemeodo, it is the wish of the governor that the issue of who won or who lost the 2015 governorship election in the state should be in the past while all Imo people irrespective of political affiliations should be part of the administration one way or the other with the sole aim of ‘building a state of our collective dream’.
In a swift reaction, Chief Emeka Ihedioha has described the judgment of the court as unfortunate and has directed his counsels to proceed to the Supreme Court to challenge the Appeal Court judgment.
Apparently unfazed, Ihedioha expressed confidence that justice will be served on the merit of his matter as he is convinced that he scored the highest lawful votes cast during the governorship elections and should have rather been declared winner by INEC.
A statement by his media aide, Chibuike Onyeukwu partly read, “Chief Ihedioha is not unaware of the shock and disappointment that have engulfed the state following this unfortunate ruling. He urged Imo people not to despair but to remain calm and continue in their prayers as he believes that the years of the locusts must come to an end.”
The statement added that PDP governorship candidate called on all party faithful and indeed the people of Imo State not to despair but to remain calm and continue in their prayers as he believed that the years of the locusts as institutionalized by “the illegitimate, clueless, irresponsible and primitively corrupt administration of Rochas Okorocha will very soon, give way for a PDP led God fearing, purposeful, transparent and qualitative administration”.
