AGN: Respect rule of law, Ibinabo still president – Secretary, Abubakar Yakub blasts Emeke Ike

7 years ago

AGN: Respect rule of law, Ibinabo still president – Secretary, Abubakar Yakub blasts Emeke Ike

The Secretary under the Ibinabo Fiberesima-led faction of the Actors Guild of Nigeria, AGN, Abubakar Yakub, has called out to the acting president of the guild, Emeka Ike, saying his intentions are aimed towards satisfying the inordinate ambitions of his disgruntled self.

Yakub insisted that Ibinabo cannot be intimidated out of office as the AGN president until ‘final judgment is given by the Supreme Court.’

It would be recalled that in March, Ibinabo was dethroned as president of the guild by a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos.

Following the verdict, however, the National Treasurer of AGN, St. Maradona J. Mikevine on Monday, April 4 had announced controversial actor, Ike as the interim president of the guild pending its elections in 2018.

Also, Ike had claimed that the body had settled its crisis.

In an interview with Television Continental, Ike had said, “Stop crying bereaved to start another crisis, it has been properly resolved by a court of competent jurisdiction. Right now there is no crisis in Nollywood. If I go to court with you and there is a judgment and a resolution, then the crisis has ended.

“A court of competent jurisdiction, a High Court in Nigeria had resolved the issue, had told the parties that it’s wrong that it had been dissolved, fired. Their appeal was refused in the High court because it was a declarative judgment so if you are where you are not even where you are supposed to appeal, then your appeal is just to install judgment.

“So if you say crisis, you need to know the crisis has been logically and legally resolved, legitimately settled.

“Ibinabo was ordered to pack out, give receipts, results and everything to designated authority. So when you say crisis, that is a media bluff. They keep going to the media to say there is problem in AGN so they can have their way but I tell you this, there is no crisis.

“Having been designated, we are now trying to put things together.”

But reacting to this, Yakub, in a new statement made available to newsmen on Tuesday, stated that the actress remained AGN president until a Supreme Court judgement.

The statement read: “The National Executive Committee of AGN received the news of a group purported to have set up a Caretaker Committee to take over the Guild as a shock because no group/stakeholders approached the NEC on the said meeting.

“The matter between St. Maradona Mclive Johnson and AGN, which judgment was pronounced by the Justice T.S Tshoho of the Federal High Court Lagos on March 16, 2015, is a subject of appeal at the Federal Court of Appeal Lagos, no: Ca/l/498/16.

“Until final judgment is given by the Supreme Court, if it takes us there, it will ever remain like that. Examples abound of how state Governors were sacked by tribunals and even appeal courts, but were never removed from office until Supreme Court gives its final judgment.

“She cannot be cowed out of office. We have respect for the rule of law and shall abide by the legal and constitutional process in order to entrench lasting peace in our noble Guild.

“We urge our members to disregard the so called resolution, which is aimed at satisfying the inordinate ambitions of a disgruntled few in the Guild,” the statement added.