The High Court of Owerri in Imo State on Thursday ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise Chukwuma Umeoji and Chief Jude Okeke as the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) governorship and chairmanship candidates.

The court struck out a fresh suit filed by Victor Oye to stop Umeoji from parading himself as the party’s governorship candidate, reaffirming its earlier verdict which declared as valid the Owerri convention that produced Okeke as APGA chairman.

In the ruling, Justice V. C. Isiguzo also directed INEC to accept, continue to recognise and publish the name of Umeoji as the APGA governorship candidate and to mandatorily include his name in all electoral processes for the forthcoming Anambra governorship poll.

The ruling followed an application for a stay of execution and leave to an appeal filed by Chief Oye wherein the court granted him leave to appeal but refused to grant the order for a stay of execution. Rather, it reaffirmed its earlier judgment.

Justice Isiguzo held that INEC cannot evade its duty to comply with the orders of the court which declared Umeoji as APGA candidate.

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The judge said the commission has a legal obligation to carry out, obey and comply with the extant, valid and subsisting judgment of the court delivered on July 28, 2021 which declared Umeoji the APGA candidate.

He ordered INEC to continue to recognise Umeoji and Okeke pending the determination of the appeal filed by Oye at the Appeal Court in Owerri.

But in a statement on Thursday in Abuja, the party hailed INEC for publishing the name of Prof. Chukwuma Charles Soludo and Dr. Onyekachikwu Gilbert Ibezim as the governorship and deputy governorship candidates of the party for the November 6, 2021 poll in Anambra State.

In the statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Tex Okechukwu, APGA expressed joy that after several weeks of suspense and confusion, INEC obeyed the Kano Court of Appeal judgment, which recognised Soludo as its candidate.

It congratulated Soludo and his deputy on the court verdict.

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