*Says ‘I have been under intense pressure from the church, monarchs, others’

BY VINCENT UJUMADU

AWKA— BARELY four hours after explaining her reasons for dragging the governorship candidate of All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, Chief Willie Obiano to the Federal High Court over alleged double registration, Mrs. Uche Ekwunife, who came second at the party’s primaries said she has withdrawn the suit following pressures from many quarters.

According to her, “I have been under intense pressure from the church, traditional rulers, well-wishers and family members to withdraw the suit and I am therefore withdrawing the matter from court.”
Ekwunife said she had already instructed her lawyers to file the necessary papers to withdraw the suit and reaffirmed her loyalty to Governor Peter Obi, the national chairman of APGA, Chief Victor Umeh, and the entire leadership of the party.

She had earlier in a statement yesterday said her going to court was not done in bad faith, adding that her action was to save the party from losing out completely.

Her words: “It was not done in bad faith, but to ensure the survival of the party in the likely event of the suits filed by some members of opposing parties against Obiano succeeding.

“If Obiano is declared winner of the election after the supplementary poll, the matter would become a post-election issue which would then be between Obiano and other political parties.

“It would be hypocritical of anyone to pretend that there were no suits filed against Obiano.”
Insisting that the matter should not be approached with sentiments, Ekwunife, who collapsed her structure into the Obiano campaign structure during the campaign, said her action was purely a precautionary one aimed at giving the party a second option should anything untoward happen in court.

She also described her action as a great sacrifice she was making to preserve the party and not just a personal ambition.

According to her, many legal luminaries have acceded to her legal position which they held to be the correct position in law.

Ekwunife expressed her respect for the governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi, and the party leadership.
But the national chairman of APGA, Chief Victor Umeh said what Ekwunife did was unacceptable to the party and wondered what she stood to gain knowing very well that her action was an exercise in futility because Obiano never committed the said offence.

Umeh said: “Ekwunife wanted to be governor and she did not get it. She wanted to be deputy governor and did not get it for obvious reasons.

“That was not the reason she should be desperate and there is no basis for her action.
“She is bringing her political career into disrepute. This is somebody who contested against Governor Obi in 2010 and after that, she came into APGA and we accepted her and gave her ticket for House of Representatives. “