Why did he say that? I didn’t put the question to him. All the time the suit to
claim his stolen electoral mandate was in the courts, there was no day we met
without discussing it, at least tangentially. Sometimes we had a full house. At
other times, half a full house. On certain occasions, just the two of us. In
every shape or setting we had, the case came up for exhaustive or salutary
examination. Not once did he talk of Dr. Ikpeazu being worthy of perpetual
gratitude. So why did he raise it now? I looked at him intently, saying
nothing.
He resumed: “When we were going to challenge INEC’s declaration of Dr. Ngige as the winner of the governorship election, our plan was to file the case in the name of APGA,” he said. “But Onyechi refused and said I must file the case in my own name. I didn’t immediately see his point because, apart from not being a lawyer, I assumed that since I contested the election on APGA’s platform, the party must file the case. Onyechi refused and said no. ‘If APGA filed the case, they might run out of steam during the proceedings and throw in the towel, even if you hold a contrary opinion. File the case in your name; you contested the election. Only you can legitimately dictate whether or not to go the whole hog.’”
