Imo State commissioner for information and strategy, Declan Emelumba, has dismissed recent reports that the Supreme Court was in the process of removing Governor Hope Uzodimma and described it as an academic exercise.
The commissioner spoke on behalf of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate and the governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodimma.
He called on the people of the state to remain calm over what seemed as a purported attempt by the opposition to seek an enforcement from the Supreme Court on its judgement of 2020 concerning the double nomination of Uche Nwosu for the 2019 gubernatorial election.
Emelumba described the latest suit by the opposition as a distraction and mere academic exercise since the Supreme Court had laid to rest all issues pertaining to the election when it affirmed Senator Uzodimma as the validly elected governor of the state.
The commissioner, in a statement he released in Owerri, the state capital, said since it was obvious to the opposition parties that they were losing the upcoming governorship election to Uzodimma, they had contrived the suit to cause confusion and distract the electorate.
He described the latest effort as an exercise in futility because the so-called ruling on Nwosu was on nomination and not as the candidate of the APC in the said election.
According to him, “They have forgotten that Uche Nwosu later went to the Federal High Court to challenge the candidature of Uzodimma, and he lost. That judgement was never appealed.
“Second, they appear to suffer a selective amnesia that, according to the relevant Electoral Act, pertaining to pre-election issues are statute barred. So, clearly, they are out of time.”
