Rivers Governorship: We are not giving up – TCCO

The Tonye Cole Campaign Organisation, has through its spokesperson, Ogbonna Nwuke, made known its position on the Federal High Court ruling concerning the candidature of Tonye Cole, governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Rivers State.
Excerpts of a press statement issued by Nwuke reads: Today, Monday 7th January, 2019 the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt delivered a ruling in respect of the matter brought before it by Senator Magnus Abe and 43 others.

The Federal High Court also ruled on Monday on the matter filed by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP which sought a declaration that the APC has no candidates.

On the matter brought before the Court by Abe and 43 others, our lawyers have briefed us that the direct and indirect primaries conducted by factions of the APC in Rivers State during the pendancy of the matter before Justice Chinwendu Nwogu have been set aside.

The Court held that until a superior court of competent jurisdiction overturns the decision of Justice Chinwendu of the Rivers State High Court, it would be deemed under the law that the APC has no candidate(s).

We are already in court challenging the judgment of Justice Chinwendu Nworgu of the Rivers State High Court

On the matter brought by the PDP, we have learnt that the Federal Hight Court ordered INEC to remove the names of the APC candidates from anything to do with the forthcoming general elections in the State.

Our position, after consultations with our lawyers, is that we shall challenge the order in an appellate court. Although we were not favoured by the decision, our faith in the country’s judicial system remains unshaken.

We believe that we have sufficient grounds on which to appeal the decisions of the Federal High Court as well as the ruling of the  Rivers State High Court.

It is clear from the ruling that Abe and his supporters have no locus. It is our hope that they would return and join us. It is by now obvious to all that the fight  is between the APC and the PDP. No use can be achieved by their continued appearance in court.

While we urge our supporters to remain calm, we wish to emphasise that we will not give up in our sincere fight to secure justice on behalf of ourselves and the good people of Rivers State who are solidly in search of a transparent and accountable system that is responsive.

Driven by our faith in God; strengthened by our believe in the sanctity of the judiciary, we believe that we are still on the right track in looking for remedies through the courts.

We are acutely aware that those who are busy placing legal hurdles on the way know that the APC in Rivers State is poised to win the 2019 elections. What our opponents are doing in partnership with some members of the political wing in the judiciary is to dampen the believe of our teeming supporters in our ability to take them to the promised land.

We assure Rivers people that we will not be deterred by the desperate efforts that are being made by our opponents to place impediments on our path. Our eyes are set on victory through the ballot box.