The Federal High Court sitting in Umuahia has dismissed a suit challenging High Chief Ikechi Emenike’s membership of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Emenike is the party’s governorship candidate in Abia for the 2023 general elections.
Before the late Wednesday’s judgement by the Federal High Court, Emenike has won similar cases on his membership of the APC and competence to contest the election. In the judgement on the Suit No: FHC/ UM/CS/101/2022, the trial judge, Justice Evelyn Anyadike, affirmed Emenike’s bona fide membership of the APC and awarded him N500,000 in damages.
The dismissal of this particular suit brings to 21 the number of cases Emenike has won out of the 24 filed by his opponents in the governorship primary, their surrogates and “meddlesome interlopers”. The plaintiffs, Chief Oti Brutus Agbai and three others had gone to court challenging Emenike’s party membership on the grounds of a purported suspension, which had been settled in Emenike’s favour by a court of competent jurisdiction.
Justice Anyadike therefore lambasted the plaintiffs over abuse of court processes with frivolous suits. The judge also decried the activities of faceless groups and their penchant for inundating the courts with frivolous pre-election cases, ostensibly to distract validly nominated candidates, like Emenike.
She said plaintiffs would rush to court and file such frivolous cases without a modicum of evidence to prosecute their cases.
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