Imo guber: Abure triumphs as Supreme Court affirms Achonu

On Thursday, the Supreme Court confirmed Senator Athan Achonu as the legitimate Labor Party candidate for governor of Imo State, ahead of the next election on November 11.

If Achonu, who lost his arm in 1970, wins the upcoming election, he may be the first governor of Nigeria to have a disability.

Infostride News recounts that after the party’s primary election, one of the governorship candidates, Basil Maduka, had objected to and contested Achonu’s candidacy in both the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal.

However, in a judgement issued on Thursday, the Supreme Court dismissed the lawsuit for lack of locus standi.

The appellant was warned by a panel of five justices chaired by Iyang Okoro for misusing judicial process and squandering the time of the courts from the beginning.

Joseph Ukaegbu, a.k.a. Ikenga, the candidate of the Lamidi Apapa-led group, and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, were the other two respondents in the case.

Barrister Okwudili Anozie, who represented the Labour Party in court, told reporters that the case against Achonu’s candidacy is now closed after the judgment was handed down.

He stated, “Today in the Supreme Court, Basil Maduka and his accomplice Joseph Ukaegbu, alias Ikenga, met their waterloo at the Apex Court, putting an end to their antics.”

“Today was the climax of their treachery and lies to Imolites, beginning with their distortions of the genuine situation of the judgements of the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal.

Basil’s attorney “immediately withdrew his subterfuge appeal that was intended to give credence to Ukaegbu’s sham, nonexistent primaries” after the court found out about his client’s lying.