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Sues for peace, unity
From Godwin Tsa Abuja
Chief Edozie Njoku has pledged to abide by the judgment of the Supreme Court that replaced him with Sylvester Ezeokenwa as the National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in the interest of party unity and respect for the rule of law.
The apex court, on Wednesday, affirmed Ezeokenwa as the national chairman of the party, thereby bringing Njoku’s tenure as APGA national chairman to an end.
Chief Njoku, who addressed media representatives in Abuja on the Supreme Court judgment, vowed not to engage in any further litigation against the party, saying, “There must be an end to litigation.”
Accompanied by his loyalists, Njoku commended the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Kekere-Ekun, for her promise to cleanse the rot in the judiciary. He said he cannot constitute a clog in the wheel of concerted efforts to redeem the battered image of the judiciary.
He stated that members of APGA and well-meaning people who believe in internal democracy within political parties are “waiting patiently to hear what I will say after the Supreme Court judgment which took place yesterday (Wednesday) which denied him the leadership of the party.”
“There was a Supreme Court judgment which was meant to look at the enforcement of a court judgment that was done by the lower court. It was a court that some powerful people took me to and accused me of forging a Supreme Court judgment.
“In that court, the court found me not guilty, and while the process was going on, members of the NWC brought that case forward to know who was really going to fill the candidates for the party called APGA.
“The Supreme Court ruled and stood by the judgment which said, I am not guilty. I am not guilty and so are officers of the party as per the Supreme Court judgment.
“Everyone who knows me, knows I believe in the rule of law and in any establishment there must be a hierarchy.”
He said, “We must be a country of law and order. Things cannot just be turned around to suit you because you are uncomfortable.
“There will be anarchy in Nigeria if we get up and choose the judgments that we accept and the judgments that we don’t go for. But the kind of things I can’t stand, I speak out against them.
“Where a Supreme Court is coming to give a judgment, a high court judge should not and does not have the powers to start giving a judgment.
“All said and done, the Supreme Court has spoken and I truly believe in the Supreme Court.
“I also beg the people that we fought with for the past years to stop bragging and bringing disrepute to the judiciary by saying how they spent 20 million dollars, how they did this or that to Chief Edozie Njoku. I don’t believe them, but even if they did, remember it’s a state fund.
“We must learn how to have respect. If you feel that you’ve done this or that, Nigerians must remove our minds from that focus.
“The people I really like to commend are certain people who within this fight, apart from my National Working Committee, apart from people who have really put themselves on the line, are people in the state of Anambra, with a sitting governor decided that enough is enough.
“These set of people, particularly the 21 local government chairmen, decided that the Federal Government of Nigeria, the judiciary of Nigeria, with the help of the same Supreme Court, decided that there must be autonomy at the local governments.
“The local governments should wake up and choose their own leaders. If N500 million is going to a state or a local government, let that N500 million go to the local government month after month, and let them be able to work with it and let power be closer to the people.
“Everybody cannot win at all times. But out of those 21 local governments, they are crying and shouting, what do we do?
“What I say to them is, keep calm. The election of Anambra State is going to be a referendum for people to decide whether it is going to be an emperor they want or is it going to be a local government,” Chief Edozie concluded.