Rivers APC gubernatorial hopeful loses appeal against High Court judgment

The Court of Appeal sitting in Port Harcourt on Wednesday rejected an appeal filed by one of the gubernatorial aspirants of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Rivers State, Ojukaye Flag-Amachree against the judgment of the Federal High Court in a case filed by one George Orlu and four others against the Independent National Electoral Commission, the CENI and the APC.

Flag-Amachree had approached the Court of Appeal arguing that George Orlu and the others who filed the High Court complaint did not take part in the primaries and as such, if the winner of the primaries Tonye Cole is deemed incompetent, he (Flag-Amachree) should be declared legitimate candidate.

But the three-man appeal panel, led by Judge O.A Adegbehingbe, in a unanimous judgment dismissed the appeal as lacking merit.

The appeals court ruled that the plaintiff's sorting out of relief, if granted, will mean the party will have to hold new conventions and primaries.

He also noted that Flag-Amachree lost the primaries and never protested the process.