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2023 Election

2023: APGA Has No Governorship Candidate In Abia – Court

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The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja on Wednesday ruled that the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has no governorship candidate in Abia State for the 2023 election.

The Founder and Chancellor of Gregory University, Uturu, Greg Ibe had emerged as the governorship candidate of APGA in the primary held in Abia State on the 29th of May, 2022.

Ibe in the governorship primary of the party gathered 283 votes to defeat two other contestants, Etigwe Uwa and Chikwe Udensi, who scored 148 and 36 votes respectively.

Udensi who was not pleased with the outcome of the governorship primary, challenged the primary before a Federal High Court, Abuja.

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He charged the court to declare him as the governorship candidate of APGA in the state or ask the party to conduct a fresh primary.

The Judge, Binta Nyako in her ruling on the 1st of December, 2022 nullified the primary that produced Ibe.

Nyako in her judgement held that from evidence and testimonies of witnesses, the 29 May governorship primary of the party was “flawed and marred by irregularities.”

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The judge consequently ordered the party to conduct a fresh primary in the state within 14 days from the date of the judgement.

APGA following the ruling, however, failed to conduct the primary within 14 days from the date of the judgement.

The party had condemned the ruling of the court nullifying the party’s governorship primary in the state.

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The National Chairman of the party, Victor Oye held that the party would appeal the ruling.

Meanwhile, the Court of Appeal in Abuja, on Wednesday, upheld the judgment of the Federal High Court in Abuja which nullified the 29 May governorship primary of the APGA in the state.

A three-member panel of justices in a unanimous verdict, read by Stephen Adah, one of the justices, noted that APGA’s failure to conduct a valid primary within the time set by law denied it the opportunity to participate in the elections.