APC: Iroakazi did not participate in Abia assembly primaries – Adighibe claims

The All Progressives Congress House of Assembly candidate for Umuahia central constituency in Abia State, Kenneth Maduakolam Adighibe, on Friday, maintained that he will not be distracted from his goal of emerging victorious in the forthcoming election in the state.

He was reacting to the judgement of a federal high court in Abuja which nullified the indirect primary election where he and 23 others emerged as House of Assembly candidates for the APC.

Track News recalls that a federal high court sitting in Abuja had on 20th of January, 2023 ordered the leadership of the All Progressives Congress to replace Kenneth Adighibe’s name and forward names and details of Mr Ugona Irokansi who purported;y emerged through parallel primary election as state House of Assembly candidate of the party to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

However, Adighibe during an interview with journalists in Umuahia, on Friday, laughed off the verdict of the court of first instance and insisted that Irokansi was never an aspirant, and also did not participate in the indirect primaries approved by the APC national leadership for adoption in the conduct of the primary election held in Abia State on May 2022.

He maintained that he remains the authentic and duly elected APC candidate for the Umuahia central state constituency seat for the March 11, 2023 election.

He said, “this is just a political gimmick designed by the serial election loser and his godfathers to distract me and curry undeserved trophy and sympathy from the court.

“It’s on record that Ugona Iroakazii was never an aspirant for the state house of assembly seat ticket of the APC for Umuahia central constituency. He did not participate in the well-concluded primary election conducted by the leadership of our great party, the APC.

“As am talking to you now, go to the INEC office in Umuahia and Abuja headquarters, you will see in the lists of names of candidates of political parties that successfully emerged through party primaries, that my name, Kenneth Maduakolam Adighibe is still in INEC lists as duly elected candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Abia State House of Assembly”.

Adighibe advised Irokansi to stop crying more than the bereaved as he was never an aspirant during the conducted party primary election as affirmed by the APC leadership and the Independent National Electoral Commission.

His words: “Iroakazi’s current resort in marauding court premises seeking judicial declaratory order concerning Abia gubernatorial seat ticket of APC, is intended to assume functions of a lawmaker through backdoors. Another one is on a plan to demoralize and destabilize my teeming large population of his supporters including our great party that cut across the electoral wards that formed the Umuahia central constituency, and political party board.

“An appeal had already been entered by 24 of us who are state house of candidates. And we have a strong belief and implicit confidence in the Nigerian judiciary in delivering justice