Chief Lawrence Eze of the All Progressives Congress ( APC ) says he remains the candidate of the party for the Enugu East Senatorial Zone in the Feb. 23, National Assembly election.
Eze disclosed this in a press statement signed by the Director General of his campaign organisation, Chief SNC Nwagu and made available to newsmen on Wednesday in Enugu.
The News Agency of Nigeria recalls that a Federal High Court in Enugu had on Tuesday sacked Eze as the candidate of the party for the senatorial zone.
The court directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise Mrs Ada Ogbu-Aguocha as the duly elected candidate of the party for the general elections.
However, Eze said that in spite of the pronouncement of the court, he remained the APC candidate as he had filed a stay of execution of the judgement.
The business mogul advised his supporters not to be discouraged by the judgement of the court, adding that steps had been taken to ameliorate it.
He expressed confidence that the appeal court would upturn the judgement of the lower court which he described as a `miscarriage of Justice’.
“We have already instructed our lawyers to file a stay of execution order and a notice of appeal, which is underway.
“We appeal to our supporters to remain calm and resolute and come out en mass to vote on Saturday,” he said.
He said that it was sad that media organisations had begun to be compelled to stop airing his campaign jingles.
“This judgment is an orchestrated plan to distract us and a ploy to deceive our supporters in this last minute of campaign.
“The truth is that Eze is still very much in the race and remains the APC candidate for Enugu East Senatorial Zone.
“Since this is a pre-election issue, we are filing for an appeal and are going to ensure that this anomaly is corrected.
“We urge our supporters, well wishers, voters and lovers of Ezeh to remain focused, resolute and ensure that they come out en masse on Saturday to vote for us,” he said.
Eze said that he was still very much in the race and would not be distracted by the court pronouncement.
“This is just a distraction aimed at bringing down our morale and that of our supporters but this will not work at all.
“A dampened spirit is not an option; a depressed mind is also not an option. Do not let anyone deceive you into believing that Ezeh is no more in the race.
“Stay resolute and be more than ever determined to vote in the game changer on Saturday,” Eze said.
