From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Former secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee, John James Akpanudoedehe, has formally joined the race to contest the Akwa Ibom State governorship election as he picked the N50 million expression of interest and nomination forms.
Speaking to newsmen after presenting him with the nomination forms, he debunked the speculations that he dragged the party to court, stressing that he is even a third defendant joiner to the suit.
“Let me use this opportunity of obtaining nomination form to debunk the impression created in certain quarters that I am in court with the party. No. It can never be. Having been a national secretary, I understand the rules.
“I was also part of the decision-making that we cannot take the party to court. The reality is that, we are actually third defendants in the case that Stephen Ntukekpo instituted against the party. He is the person who took the party to court.
“He sued me as a national secretary, they also sued me in my personal capacity. And they actually tried to, in the affidavit that I mentioned and in the letter to the national chairman, blackmail my person and my tenure as a national secretary.
“So, I have a duty to defend myself in the Court of Appeals. Not that I initiated a case against the party. I have never, and I am not doing it. So, that impression is blackmail. I am not the one, and it will never be.”