Emeka Ike is really over the moon as his case with Actors Guild of Nigeria took a positive turn when the court upturned Ibinabo Fiberesima’s election as the AGN president few days ago.
Speaking exclusively to Saturday Punch earlier in the week, Ike said Ibinabo should cover her face in shame for deceiving Nigerians.
He said, “The court judgement is victory for the Nigerian judiciary and Nigeria as a whole. It is a victory for the young and the oppressed in Nigeria and it shows that our justice system is still very tenable. The truth was known at the end of the day and nobody was able to cover it up.
When informed about Ibinabo’s reported intention to appeal the ruling, Ike said, “It is her right to appeal any judgement she feels does not favour her. But what is there to appeal when the whole 13 prayers I presented before the court were answered? It means she has no locus standi and she should be ashamed of herself for wanting to deceive the Nigerian people.
“She should cover her face in shame and to say she wants to appeal is provoking. What does she want to appeal and on what grounds? She was kicked out with the board of trustees that put her there and she was still ignorantly saying that she was put there by the board of trustees. Can’t she read? They were fired! Going everywhere to say that she wants to appeal is a sign of desperation. She should just go to apologise to Nigerians. I give her 24 hours to apologise to Nigeria for the arrant show of stubbornness to the rule of law. A court of competent jurisdiction has told you what to do and all you needed to do was to adhere to the ruling. She knows that she was guilty and she had no locus standi. If she does not apologise to Nigeria after 24 hours, we would commence a process of court contempt and nobody would beg me out of this one.”
Meanwhile, in a Blackberry Messanger forum, www.naijahottestgist.com, former president of AGN, Segun Arinze lambasted Ike, saying that AGN should reject him.
Arinze said, “It’s all a sick joke! I find the judgement shady and a kangaroo arrangement. Emeka Ike is a non issue as far as we AGN members are concerned. I call on all members, including our A-list actors and Nollywood as an industry to resist the evil plans of Emeka Ike and his cohorts. We have gone past all that. We shouldn’t condone one man trying to embarrass the industry. Emeka Ike needs help to save himself from himself. We need to declare him persona non grata in the industry. We are moving forward. Cest fini!! Ibinabo Fiberesima is our bonafide President. Enough is enough. This shenanigan has to stop!”
But Ike, while speaking to Saturday Beats, described Segun Arinze’s comment as mere ‘market talk’ that should be discredited. He described Arinze as an “illiterate who should be ignored.”
“Reacting to the comment of a man that the court has disenfranchised shows that I don’t have respect for the rule of law. His statement does not matter as much as the statement of the judge. It is a very trivial statement. It can be likened to a market talk. His wish is that he can keep taking the lots of the Nigerian youths by going to the strong places to vanguard for money meant for Nigerian youths. All the money they have collected, how was it spent? What have they made out of the money that they have been getting after visiting various government officials? Such people eating such largesse would not want you to get them out of the seat in a hurry. They would do anything to keep themselves there for a long while. Let Segun Arinze disenfranchise me but if he doesn’t have the power, he should shut up or I will disenfranchise him. I went the legal way and won, I did not employ thugs. Anybody that is not satisfied should do the same.
“Segun Arinze talking this way shows that he is not educated. He is an illiterate that found himself in a position and they used him. From the beginning of this case, I had said that he did not go to school but nobody investigated my claims. Segun Arinze has disappointed me with that statement. I am utterly disappointed because he is my friend and I thought I was equally saving him from the hands of this board of trustees. But if he has totally taken sides with them against the Nigerian nation, then he would be disgraced along with them,” he said.
Meanwhile, in a statement released by Ibinabo’s camp, the actress insists she is still the President of the guild since the judgement did not make Emeka Ike the president of AGN.
According to her, “The Board of trustees has done well to uphold our constitution’s provision that there cannot be a lacuna in government, hence Ibinabo Fiberesima Egbuka remains the President of Actors Guild of Nigeria.”
In the statement, the actress said she doesn’t have any issue with Emeka Ike but, “the case in question is between actor Emeka Ike , the board of trustees and the Segun Arinze-led government of national unity. It is not between I and Emeka Ike as some blogs have wrongly reported. I have no issues with him.”
