NRM flagbearer commends Supreme Court ruling on party dispute
From Cyril Mbah, Abuja.
The embattled Presidential Flagbearer of the Nigeria Rescue Movement (NRM), Mazi Okwudili Nwa-Anyajike has commended the Supreme Court ruling, which faulted and nullified the judgement of two lower courts in the protracted leadership dispute of the party.
The candidate stated that the Supreme Court by setting aside the ruling of the Federal High Court and the Appeal Court on the illegal substitution of his name on the list of approved candidates for the 2023 general election, has shown that the judiciary still remains the last hope of oppressed Nigerian citizens.
In a statement signed by Comrade Iliyasu Samaila Adamu, National Publicity Secretary and issued in Abuja, Mazi Okwudili Nwa-Anyajike said the National Chairman of NRM, Ambassador Isaac UDEH, Organising Secretary Mohamed Dirisu, Welfare Officer Chinedu Obi and Felix Osakwe, who was named as the presidential candidate of the party, have been expelled forthwith from the party.
The statement warned the public against transacting any business with the officials warning that anybody who deals with them does so at his/her own risk.
“We want to use this medium to inform the general public that anyone who transacts any business with them, be it political or otherwise, does that at his or her own risk.
“As it stands now, a court case awaits them for the forgery they committed in this issue. The forensic investigations which were positive and conducted by the police will soon be charged to court, which if established by the court is liable to 13 years imprisonment,” the statement said.
The statement, which was titled, “Supreme Court judgement, serious fraud and aiding of criminals by INEC,” faulted the role of some officials of the electoral commission particularly Mrs. Babalola O O, Idriss Aminu and one Musa Bashir and also claimed that there is no faction in the Nigeria Rescue Movement as alleged in some legal documents.
While accusing the INEC officials of allegedly accepting gratifications to subvert the rule of law, the statement said: “They collected the sum of N7, 000, 000 in dollar denominations from NDMG, a group where Mr. Isaac Udeh serves as chairman, took another N7, 500, 000 to open on 25th July 2022, an INEC portal that was officially closed on 15th July 2022 to remove the name of Mazi Okwudili Nwa-Anyajike to substantiate their act that he has voluntarily withdrawn his candidature from the presidential race.
“The rot in the 2023 election, as orchestrated by these INEC officials is meant to cause strife during the 2023 election and I am afraid that the election has already been rigged. If INEC staff can stoop so low for the sake of a mere N7. 5million, then imagine what will happen when big parties offer them N1 billion Naira.
“There is a court judgement and an order that confirms that there is no faction in the party and that the Commission should accept and obey the decision of the Party in the NEC meetings. Why then has INEC for three months refused to implement the judgement of the court?”
When contacted for comments on the allegations, the National Chairman of NRM, Ambassador Isaac Udeh, said “the action of the former candidate is laughable because Mazi Okwudili is not a member of the party and has no legal right to suspend or expel anybody.”
Continuing, Ambassador Isaac Udeh stated that even Comrade Iliyasu Samaila Adamu, the former zonal vice chairman [North West] of NRM, who signed the statement as National Publicity Secretary, was suspended earlier; pointing out that their suspension was properly documented for the world to see.
“Who gave them the right or the power to suspend officials of the party? These were people who were dismissed from NRM for anti-party activities by the NEC of NRM and the proceedings were properly documented and implemented. We do not know Mazi and his group and we have no criminal case in the Force CID or anywhere,” the chairman concluded.