2023: Abia APC Petitions Chief Judge
*Accuses Justice Anya of interference, romance with Ikechi Emenike, Onyejiocha
As parties embark on their primaries, stakeholders of Abia State Chapter of All Progressives Congress, APC, under the auspices of Concerned Abia State APC Stakeholders, have unanimously called on the Chief Judge of the State to, as a matter of urgency call Justice Benson Anya of the State’s High Court to order.
The group who frowned at Justice Anya for frequently interfering with the parties activities, accused the former of obstructing their quest for “a fair and just democratic process”, over the years.
The Stakeholders implored the Chief Judge to unhesitatingly apply full disciplinary measures on Justice Benson Anya, insisting that if unable to do so, to control his excesses by “applying strictly the extant judicial directives handed down by the National Judicial Council and your lordship’s office to all presiding judges in Nigeria, including Abia State”
Famousreporters.com reports that some members of the APC, under the leadership of Concerned Abia State APC Stakeholders had, in their petition on Monday, May 23 2022, asserted that Justice Anya had made himself a willing tool in the hands of one of the factions of Abia APC, who according to them, are bent on disrupting the due and democratic process in the affairs of the party.
In the petition which was addressed to ‘The Chief Judge, Abia State Judiciary, Judiciary Headquarters, Umuahia’, the Concerned APC Stakeholders stated among other things that: “For the past one (1) year or more, Justice Benson Anya has made himself a tool in the hands of Chief Ikechi Emenike, whereby he has been churning out judgments and rulings from his Court, most of them contrived, in order to protect the interests of Chief Ikechi Emenike and Hon. Nkeiru Onyejeocha, in the tussle for the soul of the APC in Abia State.
“Most of these judgments and rulings from Justice Benson Anya’s Court have gone as far as arresting ongoing proceedings in other High Courts or rendering nugatory judgments already delivered in favour of interests not favorable to Chief Ikechi Emenike and his group”
The petitioners explained that there are two (2) factions of the APC in Abia State. One faction led by Senator Chris Adighije with Hon. Acho Obioma as State Chairman and the other faction led by Chief Ikechi Emenike, Hon. be Kingsley Ononogbo as State chairman.
The petitioners further alleged that in various litigations involving the two factions, Justice Anya rather than play the role of an unbiased umpire, entered into a sustained romance with the Ikechi Emenike/Kingsley Ononogbo-led faction, a development which has frustrated ‘a fair and just democratic process in the selection and choice of APC candidates for the forthcoming 2023 General Elections’
“We will on request make available a schedule of these judgments and rulings, which often times Justice Benson Anya has denied the general public access to Court records, even on application”, the petitioners affirmed.
They further affirmed that they “…will no longer tolerate any act of meddlesomeness by Justice Benson Anya in any guise whatsoever, in the activities of the APC in Abia State, using the device of his office. We will stop at nothing, including dragging him to the National Judicial Council, civil rights and human rights organizations and even the court of public opinion on his activities towards truncating the smooth and democratic journey towards the 2023 General Elections.
“We sincerely hope that your lordship will act swiftly by drawing Justice Benson Anya’s notice to this letter and checking his excesses, in the interest of the citizens of Abia State, especially concerned APC members who bear the brunt of his illegal actions”, the petitioners stated in the petition signed by Mr Cosmos Ifegwu and Surv. Festus Egbulefu
