HE may go the way of the national publicity secretary of CPC, Mr. Rotimi Fasakin, who has been summoned by the court to prove alleged statement he made against the judiciary recently. Aguiyi alleged that Igbeke approached the court with fabricated certified through copy of the primary result to get a favourable judgment.

Does it mean that judges cannot recognise forged documents or was the documents forged by Aguiyi or somebody he knew? It is a weighty allegation against Igbeke and the court.

Aguiyi wrote that INEC and PDP had denied that Igbeke was not the candidate of the party in the April polls, but failed to disclosed that they were parties to the suits which its judgment of March 17 affirmed Igbeke’s candidature and till now INEC has not appealed the judgment. PDP leadership’s antics and complicity, if any, in the matter, is not new to Nigerians, but that the court has the final say in the matter.

After all, the PDP leadership did the same thing in the Imo State governorship primaries in 2007 which was won by Senator Ifeanyi Araraume. The PDP leadership then in collaboration with the Presidency and INEC did everything humanly possible to deny Araraume the ticket after he had won it, but failed at last as the court affirmed his candidature based on overwhelming evidence before them against the wishes of PDP, the Presidency and INEC. The same scenario is already manifesting in Igbeke’s case, but the only difference here is that Igbeke has already won the election and issued with certificate of return which only a court can nullify.

To put the record straight against Aguiyi’s false claims, Igbeke is not hiding and cannot hide, because he has nothing to hide from. He is in Nigeria and has been shuttling between Abuja, Anambra and Lagos attending to his businesses, family matters and waiting for his swearing-in. He is not under investigation by any agency or has been declared wanted by any security agents. He has not been convicted of forgery in any court and will not, because he has not forged any document and will not do so. EFCC has not invited him or interrogated him because he is not a fraudster as Aguiyi wanted Nigerians to believe. His refusal to succumb to the whims and caprices of the notorious godfathers in Anambra State is responsible for his ordeals, but just like in the past and with the people’s support, he will overcome them.

The warrant of arrest which was illegally obtained by his opponents at a magistrate court against him was set aside within two days by the Federal High Court Abuja for being defective. The forgery charges leveled against Igbeke by Minister of Justice as written by Aguiyi has no effect, because the Ministry was nowhere to be found during the last court appearance. They did not even write a letter to state reasons for their absence, indicating that the action was all part of the plot by some forces to intimidate Igbeke to see if he can chicken out of the battle, but to no avail.

For the past few weeks, Senator Igbeke has taken his political oredeals to the court of public opinion with his fact-studded explanations and arguments which have exposed the complicity of the Senate leadership, Ministry of Justice and other forces, including the godfather to Aguiyi’s principal who is in the Senate now and has continued to hide under the cover of the Senate leadership to fight Igbeke and people of Anambra North zone.

Igbeke’s interviews on the matter which were published in The Guardian newspaper of September 24 page 53, Daily Independent of September 24 page 39 and The Sun newspaper of October 2 page 62/23 were detailed, revealing, educative and factual. Up till today, none of the principal actors fighting Igbeke, including Aguiyi’s principal, has come out to contradict or dispute his Igbeke’s claims; rather, they have continued to resort to name-calling and cheap blackmail which have always been their stock in trade.

So for Aguiyi and his cohorts, there is no sentiment or emotion in law, fact is supreme and sacred and that has remained Igbeke’s secret of success in many political battles he has fought before now and this one might not be different in the end. So Igbeke is not afraid of anything, but Aguiyi and his principal are afraid of his rising political profile and are doing everything to nip it in bud out of sheer envy.