The Court of Appeal sitting in Port Harcourt in a unanimous decision on Thursday, struck out the appeal by Magnus Abe and 42 others seeking to be declared the candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State.
The presiding judge, Justice Bitrus Sanga, who read the unanimous judgment dismissed Abe’s application as an “academic exercise” and lacking in merit.
Abe, a senator representing Rivers South East in the National Assembly, and some of his henchmen, had gone to court seeking to be declared the candidates of the APC in the state after conducting direct primaries in defiance of the national leadership of the party which had sanctioned indirect primaries for the state chapter of the party.
Thursday’s judgment by the Appeal Court puts to rest Abe’s reported quest to wrest power from the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi as the leader of the APC in Rivers State.
But in a swift reaction to the judgment, Sen. Abe said that he was going to the Supreme Court for a final resolution of the matter.
In a press conference at his campaign office in GRA Port Harcourt, Abe said that he was surprised that the Court of Appeal surprisingly refused to go into the merits case but just merely holding that the case was covered by the decision of the Supreme Court in respect of the earlier case against the conduct of the indirect primaries.
Abe stated: “We believe that that is not the sum of the judgment of the Supreme Court and so in consultation with our legal practitioners we have asked to approach the Supreme Court for the final resolution of the matter”.
He added: “Unfortunately we are now fighting hard against time because time is fast running out for legal options that are available to us. So we will do what we can to try to get the Supreme Court to consider the matter before the next elections (Governorship and House of Assembly) are held here in the state.”