– Ngoforo Hails Politicians for Shunning Fraudulent Party, Assures Nigerians of Inevitable Justice
By Emeka Okafor and Chioma Nwosu
Palpable fear and anxiety have gripped Hon. Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere and the entire leadership of the Action Peoples Party following the Federal High Court’s decision to fix May 14, 2026 as the date for substantive hearing of the suit seeking the party’s delisting from INEC’s register of political parties. Sources close to APP’s rapidly shrinking structure revealed that the announcement of the May 14 date has triggered panic within what remains of the party’s leadership, with Ugochinyere reportedly convening emergency virtual meetings with his closest associates to explore last-minute options including praying the court for an adjournment. The fear consuming APP’s camp is rooted in the recognition that after months of failed propaganda, irrelevant document parades, and desperate attempts to create the illusion of legitimacy, the party now faces the moment of ultimate reckoning when a Federal High Court judge will examine the overwhelming documentary evidence of APP’s February 2020 deregistration, the Supreme Court’s March 2022 affirmation of that deregistration, and the conspicuous absence of any court order restraining the delisting despite six years of claims and requests for production.
The May 14 date carries particular significance because it falls just weeks before political parties would finalize the primary elections ahead of the 2027 general elections, meaning that any adverse judgment against APP on or shortly after that date would effectively eliminate the party from the electoral equation with insufficient time for members to reposition themselves in alternative platforms. “Ugochinyere understands that May 14 is judgment day in more ways than one,” explained a terrified member of the APP. “If the court grants even half of Ngoforo’s twenty-one reliefs, APP is finished. If the court orders the party’s immediate delisting and restrains it from participating in electoral activities, there’s no appeal that can reverse that reality before 2027. The timeline has caught up with us, and INEC’s refusal to defend the party is worrisome. Apprehension is the only rational response to this situation.”
In sharp contrast to the fear and desperation emanating from APP’s camp, Mazi Franklin Ngoforo has expressed satisfaction and gratitude to Imo, Igbo, and Nigerian politicians generally for heeding his warnings and demonstrably shunning association with the deregistered party. Speaking to journalists at his Abuja office on Friday, the Arondizuogu-born civil society leader noted that the exodus of credible politicians from APP and the conspicuous reluctance of serious political figures to join the party despite aggressive recruitment efforts demonstrate growing awareness that association with fraudulent enterprises carries severe reputational costs. “I want to commend the discerning politicians across Imo State, across Igbo land, and across Nigeria who have refused to be deceived by Ugochinyere’s propaganda and who have declined to associate themselves with APP despite whatever inducements may have been offered,” Ngoforo stated. “These politicians understand a fundamental truth: a party with fraudulent existence raises serious questions about the moral credentials of those who identify with it. When you join or remain in a party that was lawfully deregistered, whose deregistration was affirmed by the Supreme Court, and whose continued presence on INEC’s register rests on a phantom court order that cannot be produced after six years, you are making a statement about your own character and judgment.”
Ngoforo specifically praised politicians who had initially joined APP in apparent ignorance of its fraudulent status but who quickly exited upon learning the facts. He also acknowledged the role of community youth organizations, particularly the Ideato Youth Alliance and the Ngor Okpala Youth Forum, in creating social pressure that made APP membership untenable for politicians who value their standing in their home communities. “The fact that APP’s recruitment efforts have essentially collapsed, that the party cannot attract credible new members despite being barely eight months away from general elections, that politicians are fleeing rather than joining, speaks to the success of our public education campaign and the power of truth when it is consistently and comprehensively articulated,” Ngoforo observed. He noted that APP’s Imo State structure has been reduced to a skeleton crew of Ugochinyere’s immediate associates who have nowhere else to go politically and who have tied their fortunes so completely to his that they must sink or swim with him.
The pro-democracy crusader used the occasion to reiterate his absolute confidence that justice will be served when the Federal High Court convenes on May 14 to hear the substantive case, emphasizing that the evidence supporting APP’s delisting is so overwhelming and the applicable constitutional provisions so clear that any other outcome would represent a fundamental failure of the judicial system. “I want to assure all Nigerians, particularly those who have stood with us in this fight, that APP will not be on the ballot in 2027,” Ngoforo declared with characteristic certainty. “The documentary evidence we have placed before the Federal High Court is irrefutable. INEC’s own deregistration notice from February 6, 2020 lists APP among seventy-four deregistered parties. The Supreme Court’s March 2022 judgment affirms the constitutional validity of that deregistration. INEC has refused to defend APP in court and has failed to produce the phantom court order allegedly restraining the delisting. These facts, combined with the clear constitutional provisions in Sections 225 and 225A and the binding nature of Supreme Court precedent under Section 287, leave the court with only one legally permissible outcome: granting our reliefs and ordering APP’s immediate removal from INEC’s register.”
Ngoforo concluded by appealing to INEC Chairman Prof. Joash Amupitan to proactively comply with what he described as the inevitable court judgment by administratively removing APP from the register even before May 14, arguing that such voluntary compliance would demonstrate institutional integrity and spare INEC the embarrassment of being judicially compelled to perform its constitutional duty. “The evidence is before INEC. The Supreme Court precedent is clear. INEC’s own lawyers have advised that APP’s retention is indefensible, which is why the commission sent no one to defend the party on February 26,” Ngoforo noted. “Prof. Amupitan has an opportunity to demonstrate leadership by voluntarily correcting this fraud before the court orders it. But whether INEC acts voluntarily or under judicial compulsion, the result will be the same: APP will be removed, Ugochinyere will be without a platform, and the 2027 elections will proceed without the contamination of a fraudulent party.”
