Aftermath of Owerri Court Verdict: Alaibe Confused, Inaccessible

An air of uncertainty now beclouds the planned appeal court case between a former governorship aspirant under the banner of the PDP, Chief Timi Alaibe and the governor of the state, Senator Douye Diri.
Sources said the appeal was expected to have been filed last Friday, but by Tuesday, there were no clear indications about the status of the planned appeal.
Alaibe himself has decided to go incommunicado. He is not taking his calls, neither is he accepting to talk with top PDP chieftains.
It was learnt that Alaibe was supposed to travel out of the country during the weekend, apparently to avoid all those who have been trying to beg him to drop the case.
TNN learnt from one of his close associates that Alaibe has been under intense pressure for sometime now. The source however said there were high hopes that the former managing director of NDDC will appeal against the Owerri court judgement.
“I can tell you that the man has been under intense pressure. He has to even avoid people. The party is trying to reach out to him; I am aware that a lot of people in the government and outside the government are trying to reach him.
“The appeal was supposed to have been filed last Friday. I am not sure it has been filed as we speak. The thing is that he seems to be very careful in the handling of the entire processes. I think he is even confused on how to go about the whole thing.
“Even me, I have not been able to talk to him as often as we used to. Since last weekend, we have not been able to talk. It is either his phone is busy for hours or not reachable. But the appeal was supposed to have been filed.
“There were initial hiccups about how to get the certified true copy of the judgment itself, but the lawyers were able to get it eventually. That is the much I can tell you about the matter.”
One of his aides who would not want to be named, however told TNN that he was not sure of the status of the case. He had promised to reach TNN once he was able to get a clue on the case. But he did not, as at the time of going to the press on Tuesday.
But he had confirmed that so many people had reached his boss in an effort to get him to abandon the case and support the governor.
Last week, a member of the House of Representatives, Fred Agbedi who had also contested the governorship primaries with Diri and Alaibe, had pleaded with ‘the principal’ to abandon the case and work with Diri.
Incidentally, both Diri and Agbedi had worked for and with Alaibe for years. Diri, for example, still sees Alaibe as his political master.