The Abia State Chapter of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, has expressed displeasure over the court ruling that declared first runner up in the 2014 Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, governorship primaries in the state, Dr Uche Ogah as replacement for the embattled State Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu.
It is recalled that Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court, Abuja had last week sacked Ikpeazu as governor of the state over tax evasion.
Justice Abang had ordered the Independent Electoral Commission, INEC, to issue certificate of return to Ogah which was done.
In its reaction to the ruling, APGA called for the declaration of its candidate in the election, Dr. Alex Otti, as the duly elected governor of the state.
This was contained in a statement signed by the party’s, state Chairman, Rev. Augustine Ehiemere.
According to Ehimere, the court’s decision to sack Ikpeazu was a welcome decision, but should not have declared Ogah as governor because he did not participate in the actual gubernatorial poll.
Ehimere said, “We humbly disagree with the consequential order by the court which directed for the swearing in of Dr. Uche Ogah as the governor. This order, which we consider as a huge error, is not only unacceptable to APGA, but untenable in Nigeria’s 2010 Electoral Act as amended, which forbids any person that did not take part in all the stages of an election from being declared winner.
“Since there was no record anywhere to show that Dr. Uche Ogah won the primaries of his party, the PDP, let alone partook in all the stages of the last governorship election in Abia State, his declaration as the governor by the court was strange and alien to the law.
“Our humble demand is that the appellate court, while upholding the Ikpeazu guilty verdict, should correct this huge error by issuing the right order, which is to declare the candidate that scored the highest lawful votes, Dr Alex Otti (APGA) as the governor.”
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