OWERRI—UCHE Nwosu, former Chief of Staff to Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State, yesterday said he is relying on the court to redeem his mandate as governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the 2019 gubernatorial election.
Uche Nwosu
Nwosu who spoke to newsmen in Owerri said his governorship ambition would be defined by the court, adding that he relied on the court order which stopped both the APC and INEC from publishing any other person’s name other than his (Nwosu’s) as the governorship candidate of Imo APC.
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On November 9, 2018, INEC published the name of Senator Hope Uzodinma hours after the publication of names of other governorship candidates of other political parties.
Uzodinma’s name was listed at the INEC office along Port-Harcourt Road in Owerri, with Akaolisa Cyprain Okechukwu as his running mate.
Vanguard had visited the INEC office at about 18:45pm and kept vigil for the candidate’s name to be pasted and at about 07:52pm, Uzodimma’s name was displayed as the authentic governorship flag-bearer of APC in Imo State.
This came after about 10 hours that INEC pasted other governorship names of various political parties excluding that of APC.
A source told Vanguard that immediately the court struck out the order by Okorocha’s faction stopping the name of Senator Uzodimma from being published as the candidate of the party, the judgement was taken to the national headquarters of INEC where an order was given that the name of Uzodinma be published immediately.
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“When the order came to INEC in Owerri, the administrative head was not on sit but the legal adviser received the order from the national headquarters and he went ahead to paste it. They have not acted in their own power but according to the power of the court,” the source said.
However, Nwosu said: “My candidacy is not in contention as there are reports from relevant agencies affirming the October 6 primary election which I won, including that of the Police, DSS and INEC. So, I am not worried over what is happening now because I know that it will only last for a while and my candidacy will be restored. I have faith in the court to dispense justice.”
Nwosu was worried that “Oshiomhole’s decision not to obey a valid court order issued by a court of competent jurisdiction restraining him and the party from forwarding any name other than my name as the APC governorship candidate will be defined by the court because I believe in the principle of the rule of law, which stipulates that no person is above the law, no matter how highly placed.
“I am confident that all the irregularities perpetrated by Oshiomhole will be reversed and the will of the members of our great party will prevail. I want you to remember that the Gulak Committee was subsequently disbanded and a new committee led by Ibrahim Agbabiaka, a retired Army General was constituted to conduct a fresh governorship primary, which I, Nwosu won.
“Oshiomhole had during a press conference in Abuja, said that the NWC of the party had decided to adopt the cancelled result of the Ahmed Gulak Committee, which produced Uzodinma but which was rejected by the party for not complying with the guidelines for the primary. You can imagine.”
