Press Release
The attention of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has been drawn to the claims of the agents of the Ebonyi State Government and the APC over the recent judgment of the Federal High Court in Abakaliki which was in favour of the PDP.
For the records, the People’s Democratic Party filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Abakaliki in January, 2023 to challenge the qualification of the APC’s governorship candidate in the 2023 poll in Ebonyi State, Hon. Francis Nwifuru and his party, APC. The APC swiftly filed a preliminary objection which the court granted. Having noticed that the preliminary objection had become the strength of the APC at the 2023 Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, lawyer to the PDP, Chief Mudi Erhenede filed a review of the decision of the court over the suit challenging the qualification of the APC to participate in the election, citing reason of the failure of the APC to serve PDP its preliminary objection notice, in its wisdom, the court granted it and therefore, reversed itself, nullifying the earlier granting of the preliminary objection of the APC as it noticed that truly, PDP wasn’t served. The court granted the prayer of the PDP by reversing its earlier action in favour of the APC on the 22nd of June, 2023.
Having removed the blockade on its way at the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Abuja, PDP filed an application to discontinue the matter as it has achieved its purpose of unfettering the PDP from challenging the qualification of Rt Hon. Francis Nwifuru who up till now remains PDP member and not APC member. As it is a known convention of court, the Federal High Court today, 27th of June, 2023 granted the application of the PDP to discontinue the matter by striking it out.
It’s now the “striking” out of the matter which the PDP filed an application for that the APC and elements in the Ebonyi State Government went to town celebrating, working very hard to douse the tension the reversal of their earlier fortune by the court would have caused. It’s not as if they didn’t know that the lost out. It was the earlier favour they got from the court through their preliminary objection that they made crux of their argument at the tribunal. Now that the order has been reversed, they had to find a piece of propaganda with which to douse the growing tension the loss was to bring against them.
It is on this premise that we’re telling Ebonyians and indeed, the general public to disregard the claims of the APC as it’s already sensing huge loss at the election petition tribunal since the only straw they clutched on has been taken away from their hands.
▪︎Nwoba Chika Nwoba,
Publicity Secretary of PDP in Ebonyi State.
