Lagos — Victor Umeh, national chairman of All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), has fought relentlessly to maintain his leadership of the party, following the expulsion of the pioneer chairman, Chekwas Okorie. The battle for the number one seat in APGA, which started in 2004, has since left the party in a chaotic situation that culminated into two factional groups, led by Okorie and Umeh.

Umeh in a quite confident manner addressed himself as the national chairman of APGA while the crisis lasted, despite the refusal by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to accord him recognition. The Professor Maurice Iwu-led INEC had asserted that Okorie was the recognised national chairman of the party. Iwu anchored his position on a court order that appeared to have been a ruse after all.

"Sequel to the court order on the All Progressive Grand Alliance, the Political Parties Monitoring Committee should henceforth relate with Chekwas Okorie-led executive of APGA. Unless any directive to the contrary is received, this status should be maintained until the final resolution of the subsisting dispute within the party. Please, ensure strict compliance according to the court order," Iwu instructed in a statement.

Umeh, however, was declared the bonafide chairman by an Abuja High Court headed by Justice Adamu Bello last week. The court specifically nullified the letter of recognition issued by INEC in 2007, pointing out that it was not predicated on any judgement of a court of competent jurisdiction, as postulated by Iwu. The court wondered why a public office holder in the caliber of the INEC chairman should stoop so low as to writing such a memo devoid of any existing court order.

Umeh and other APGA stalwarts who received the judgement with joy said the court verdict has revealed the truth concerning who the authentic chairman of APGA is. "We feel very happy with the judgement. It was able to debunk all the lies being peddled around for over a year now by Chekwas Okorie, that Maurice Iwu of INEC had reverted the leadership of APGA to him based on a court order. We had to go to court to let the people know that there was no such court in existence. After this long battle, the truth came to light," Umeh said.

But Okorie believes that the battle has just begun. "Like a typical football tournament, we have just witnessed the end of a quarter final encounters. We still have the semifinals, which is the Appeal Court and the finals, which is the Supreme Court," Okorie, who gave a hint of appealing the judgement, fired back.

The AGPA judgement has, however, attracted mixed reactions from Nigerians. While some believed that the acceptance of the ruling in good faith by the parties involved would bring an end to the crisis that has crippled the unity of the party, others say that any attempt to make an appeal will further stir up the war in APGA.

Yusuf Ali, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), says "I will advise that judgement should be obeyed by all those concerned in the matter. Any verdict of the court must always be respected. That is not to say that whoever that is not satisfied by the decision of a lower court should not appeal. Everybody has the right of appeal."

Umeh, born on July 19, 1962, is an indigene of Anaocha Local Government Area of Anambra State. He graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Estate Management from the University of Nigeria Nsuka (UNN), in 1984.