Imo LP insists Senator Achonu remains its candidate for Nov guber election

The Imo State chapter of the Labour Party (LP), on Friday. Insisted that Sen. Athan Achonu remains the candidate of the party for the November 11 governorship election in the state.

According to the party, the candidature of Senator Achonu was not voided by any Court.

The Imo LP said this in a statement signed by its Chairman, Mr Calistus Ihejiagwa in Owerri, the state capital.

Ihejiagwa, who was reacting to reports in some sections of the media that Achonu had, on Friday, been sacked by an Appeal Court sitting in Owerri, said the reports were “deceitful and mischievous”, maintaining that Achonu remained the party’s candidate.

He stated that Mr Basil Maduka, a member of the party, had approached a Federal High Court sitting in Yenagoa, asking the Court to replace Achonu with Chief Joseph Ukaegbu, another member of the party.

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He further explained that on June 23, the Court, presided over by Justice B.O. Quadri, dismissed the suit for lack of merit and ruled that the Court lacked the jurisdiction to preside over the matter.

He noted that the court ruled that Ukaegbu did not participate in the party’s primary election, and as such, “lacked the locus standi to institute the action”.

Speaking further, Ihejiagwa said the Appeal Court, on Friday, only reemphasized the implication of lack of jurisdiction in a motion for leave to appeal as an interested party, filed by Achonu, stating that it lacked necessary jurisdiction just as the Federal High Court also held.

The Imo State LP Chairman therefore urged members of the public to disregard the reports of Achonu’s purported sack by the Court, describing the reports as “dirty politics and misrepresentation of Court”.

“Sen. Athan Achonu is and remains the valid governorship candidate of our great party, LP.

“All peddlers of propaganda against our party, misinterpreters of Court and detractors have failed,” he added.

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