The Appeal Court sitting in Lagos has
dismissed the appeal by Action Alliance, AA party challenging the emergence of the
All Progressives Congress, APC candidate, Rt Hon Benjamin Kalu in the February
25th , 2023 election of the House of Representatives for Bende Constituency
in Abia State.
The Appeal Court judgement of Thursday
19th October, 2023, proved that the current Deputy Speaker, Rt Hon Benjamin
Kalu is the legitimate winner of the election.
In the same vein, the Appeal Court has
also exonerated Hon. Ifeanyi Chukwuka Igbokwe from the allegation of having filed
a petition against the Deputy Speaker at both the Tribunal and the Appeal Court.
The court found that the appeal in an
academic exercise fell short of the time limit provided by Section 285 of the
Constitution for the tribunal to decide on the appeal.
The Court of Appeal therefore insisted
that it lacked jurisdiction to handle the matter.
The Court while taking submissions on
Tuesday, 17th October, 2023 inquired of the Appellant that assuming
the court agrees with them and the appeal succeeds, is there any utilitarian
value to the appeal? The Appellant’s Counsel had no response for the court.
The court tacitly referred to the
fact that assuming the Appellant’s reliefs are granted, the Tribunal is without
the vires to decide the petition on its merit, the 180 days limited by the
constitution having elapsed.
Meanwhile, the Candidate of the
Action Alliance, AA, Hon. Ifeanyi Igbokwe had either insisted in a national
press conference that he neither approached the Tribunal in Umuahia nor any
branch of the court of appeal to contest the victory of the Deputy Speaker of
the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu.
According to him, those shopping for
a court judgement against Kalu were impersonating him.
He also exonerated Kalu from a report
in Sahara Reporters that the Deputy Speaker was behind the call for the arrest
of some leaders of the party.
Igbokwe insisted that he was
impersonated and subsequently called on the security agencies to fish out the
impersonators and bring them to justice.
He said: "Gentlemen of the
Press, for purposes of proper introduction, my name is Honorable Ifeanyi
Chukwuka Igbokwe. I am from Uzuakoli in Bende Local Government Area of Abia
State. I was the candidate of Action Alliance (AA) in the last National
Assembly General Elections. Precisely, I contested for the seat of Bende
Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives.
"The essence of this press
conference is to tell the whole world that I did not file any legal suit at the
Tribunal to contest the outcome of the election. I have long accepted the
victory of Rt. Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu who is now Deputy Speaker of the House
of Representatives.
"But to my greatest chagrin, I
have continued to read the reports of a legal suit surreptitiously filed by my
humble self against Kalu. I came here to say that for the umpteenth time, I did
not file again legal action against Kalu and I have cried out to the security
authorities that I was Impersonated.
"Gentlemen of the Media, it may
interest you to know that when we first got the wind of this matter, I went to
the Tribunal in Umuahia, Abia State capital with my lawyers to know who filed
the case. To everybody's surprise, no one else other than me boldly showed up
to say he/she is Hon. Ifeanyi Chukwuka Igbokwe. I further learnt that those
impersonating me also had their lawyers present in court. But before the
Tribunal could call up the case, the lawyers had disappeared. We filed our
briefs and the Tribunal later dismissed the matter.
"I followed it up with a
petition to the IGP, and the Director of the Department of State Service (DSS)
requesting the arrest and the prosecution of my impersonators because it was a
criminal matter.
"I have every document which I
have forwarded to the IGs office. The State Chairman of the party, Tony Orji
and the National Chairman of Action Alliance, AA, Adekunle Aja-Oje were
indicted in the matter. I expected the Police not to treat the issue lightly
since it is a case of impersonation but nothing has happened so far.
"But I was surprised when my
attention was drawn to a publication by Sahara Reporters accusing the Deputy Speaker,
Kalu of instigating the police of inviting the AA national party Chairman for
questioning.
"This is totally wrong. It was
misdirected. I want to clearly state here that I was the one that filed the
petition at the IGs office against my party leadership. It's a case criminal
case of impersonation and I must follow the case to the latter regardless of
who is involved. It is my integrity that is at stake here and not that of
anyone else. They will have to face the law because they don’t mean well for my
political career.
"While they are yet to honour
the police invitation, I have learnt that the same people have filed an appeal
in my name again against Kalu.
"Gentlemen of the Press, this is
very serious. I hereby emphatically state that I know nothing about the appeal
at the court of appeal. This is the handiwork of the same political merchants
who are bent on using my name to procure judgement against the Deputy Speaker.
"It must be emphasized that I am
the only candidate of AA in that election. And if anyone should approach the
courts, it should be me. Once again, I challenge anyone who says he is Ifeanyi
Chukwuka Igbokwe other than me to reveal his true identity and counter my
position in this issue."
As a result of the call the Police are
in custody of the Secretary of Action Alliance
party who appeared at the Police Force Head
Quarters in Abuja.
Igbokwe insists that the fake Ifeanyi
must be provided by the party, noting that
those involved in the mastermind must face the law.
"Impersonation anywhere in the
world is a serious criminal offence that is punishable under the law. Let those
who went to the Appeal Court unmask themselves for the world to see them”.
"I therefore call on the police,
the DSS and other security agencies to immediately fish out these impersonators
and bring them to justice", he said.