Thursday’s
issuance of a Certificate of Return to Dr. Uchechukwu Ogah by the Independent
National Electoral Commission in Abuja has complicated the dispute over
the governorship seat of Abia State.
Justice
Okon Abang of the Federal High Court, Abuja, had, on Monday, ordered the
removal of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu and ordered INEC to issue a Certificate of
Return to Ogah, who was the first runner-up in the state governorship primary
of the Peoples Democratic Party.
Justice
Abang had ordered the removal of Ikpeazu after finding him guilty of not
presenting relevant tax certificates along with his forms submitted to INEC.
He
held that Ikpeazu, who emerged as the candidate of the PDP in the state for the
2015 governorship election on the strength of the primary, was not qualified to
be the candidate of the PDP.
INEC
Commissioner in charge of the South-East, Ambassador Lawrence Nwuruku,
presented the Certificate of Return to Ogah in Abuja in accordance with the
judgment of the court.
Nwuruku
told journalists that the court directed the commission to issue the
certificate with immediate effect.
He
said, “The situation is we are simply obeying the court order. The court said
with immediate effect, we should issue him a Certificate of Return, and that is
what we have done.
“If
the court tomorrow issues (another) order, we will obey the same. By the grace
of God, I am the INEC commissioner in charge of the South-East.
“In
this case, the court ordered us to issue certificate to the person who won the
election, that is Uchechukwu Ogah. I was the person that issued the same
Certificate of Return to Governor Ikpeazu because he was declared the winner.
“One
thing is that we are not above the law and we cannot disobey the law of the
land.”
A
few hours after Ogah collected his Certificate of Return in Abuja, an Abia
State High Court in Osisioma stopped the Chief Judge of the state or any other
judge in the state from inaugurating Ogah as directed by Justice Abang on
Monday.
The
presiding judge in the court, Justice C. H. Ahuchaogu, equally made a belated
order stopping INEC from issuing a Certificate of Return to Ogah as the winner
of the 2015 governorship election in the state.
In
a suit, HOS 52/2016, by Ikpeazu, Justice Ahuchaogu ordered “that the third
Defendant (state CJ) or any other judge of the court or any judicial officer
are hereby restrained from swearing in the first Defendant (Ogah) while the
claimant remains in office in accordance with Section 143(1) and (2) of the
Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) and pending the determination of the motion on
notice.”
The
issuance of the Certificate of Return to Ogah and the pronouncement of the Abia
State High Court have created confusion on who is the valid governor of the
state.
Meanwhile,
the state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Bonnie Iwuoha, on
Thursday, announced that the government had declared Friday (today) and Monday
next week as work-free days in memory of the former Minister of Foreign
Affairs, Chief Ojo Maduekwe, who died on Wednesday.
He
said the gesture was in recognition of the immense contribution of the
deceased, who hailed from the state, to the development of the state and
Nigeria in general.
Similarly,
the Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Eme Okoro, expressed surprise at the
sudden death of Maduekwe, who he said worked tirelessly for the sustenance of
democracy in Nigeria.
But
the Peoples Democratic Party in the state described the order of the Federal
High Court in Abuja as a threat to democracy in the country.
Addressing
newsmen at Government House on Thursday, the state chairman of the party, Chief
Johnson Onuigbo, said the party would resist any attempt by any person or group
to undermine the peace in the state.
Tags
Politics