By Favour Goodness
Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Sen. Andy Uba, has said he has no hand in the suit, seeking to disqualify the winner of the just-concluded Nov. 6, Anambra state governorship election, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA).
He said he is challenging the election results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and not in the suit seeking to disqualify Soludo, via Form EC9 of the Commission.
The Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday dismissed a suit seeking disqualification of Soludo as the governor-elect of Anambra state.
Justice Taiwo Oladipupo Taiwo in a judgment delivered in a suit instituted by two voters in Anambra, Adindu Valentine and Chukwuebuka Egwudike, described the suit as frivolous, irritating, baseless, and lacking in merit.
He accused the two plaintiffs of seeking to use the court as a tool to scuttle democracy. He awarded a punitive cost of N2 million against them to be paid to Soludo and his deputy, Onyeka Ibezim.
The plaintiffs – Adindu Valentine and Egwudike Chukwuebuka – had in the suit contended that Soludo provided false information in the affidavit (Form EC9) that he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and should be deemed unqualified to stand for election.
In the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/711/2021, the plaintiffs claimed that Soludo indicated, in the affidavit, that he was contesting the Aguata 2 Constituency seat when in fact, he was contesting the Anambra governorship seat and his deputy claimed to be contesting Awka constituency instead of Anambra deputy governorship.
Reacting further in a statement signed and made available to journalists in Awka, on Thursday, by Mr. Ikechukwu Emeka Onyia, Deputy Director, Senator Andy Uba Governorship Campaign Organization (SAUGCO), Uba, insisted that he has no hand in the suit.
According to the statement; the Senator Andy Uba Governorship Campaign Organization (SAUGCO) this morning clarified that the APC flagbearer in the recently conducted Anambra governorship election has no interest howsoever in the suit seeking to disqualify the APGA candidate in November 6 governorship election, Prof. Charles Chukwuma Soludo over alleged ‘error’ in his INEC Form.
SAUGCO says it has become necessary to set the records straight in view of deliberate attempts by mischief makers to associate Sen. Uba with the suit.
“We wish to state without fear of contradiction that neither Sen. Andy Uba nor his party, the APC, has any form of interest in the said suit.
”Nevertheless, while the APC candidate is not a party to the suit, it bears restating that, in line with his earlier stand that there are valid grounds to challenge the results declared by INEC in respect of the Anambra guber election, Sen. Uba has submitted his petition to the election petitions tribunal challenging INEC declaration of Prof. Soludo as governor-elect.
“We, therefore, urge the general public to disregard the false claims that Senator Uba is behind the suit dismissed by Justice Taiwo earlier on Wednesday.
The statement further noted that Senator Andy Uba, as a law-abiding citizen, will follow the dictates of the law while pursuing his case to a logical conclusion before the tribunal.
“As we said before, Sen. Uba will not be found on the negative side of history while pursuing his claims regarding the Anambra 2021 governorship election.
“It is pertinent to emphasise for the umpteenth time that Sen. Uba’s determination to diligently pursue his petition is propelled by his genuine desire to use the instrumentality of government to set new development agenda for the state and prove that Anambra can be better than what it currently is under APGA’s 16 years watch,” it added.
