Brave Dickson
Kalabaris in Rivers State have welcomed the judgment of the Court of Appeal in Port Harcourt which had reinstated the state APC guber candidate, Tonye Cole to be on the 2023 ballot.
By the appeallate court judgment which was delivered on Thursday, it means that Tonye Cole and other national and state assembly candidates of the party can now contest the forthcoming elections..
You recall that a federal high court presided over by Justice Emmanuel Obile in Port Harcourt had on October 25 sacked the candidates of the state APC following a suit brought by George Orlu and five others who claimed they were excluded from the party’s delegate congresses.
The three-man special panel of the Court of Appeal in their judgment delivered by the lead Judge, Justice Muhammed Lawal-Shaibu said George Orlu and five others did not exhaust the internal party mechanism before instituting the suit.
Lawal-Shaibu held that the respondents did not participate in the congress of the APC and so did not have any cause of action and lacked the locus standi to go to court.
Speaking with our correspondent, the IYC Chairman of Kalabari Se-Ikpangi, Edward Asikitams said they are happy because the guber candidate hails from Kalabari and it is their yearnings for their kinsman to be the next governor.
He said, “as IYC, we remain apolitical and do not antagonize any government but we are in full support of a Kalabari man to be the next governor of the state.
“We have been supporting other tribes to emerge as governor and it is our turn to rule this state in 2023.
“Among the illustrious sons from Kalabari who are contesting for the race to the Brick House, whoever emerges is okay by us; so long as it is a Kalabari person.”
Asikitams also described the appeal court judgment as accurate and urged all Kalabaris to keep mobilizing for a Kalabari governor come 2023.
