Following the certificate of return that was issued to Uche Ogah to return as governor of Abia State, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has tendered reasons for its decision.
Ogah came second at the last Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship primaries in Abia State.
INEC National Commissioner in charge of the South East, Amb Lawrence Nwuruku said the commission only kowtowed to the lawful order of a court.
Nwuruku added that as a citizen, he could go to jail if he flouts a valid court order. He said if the court tomorrow orders a reversal of the action, INEC would not hesitate to do its bidding.
NWukuru said: “The situation is that we are simply obeying the court order. If court says we should issue the same certificate to another person. In this case, court ordered us to issue a Certificate of Return to the person who won the election and that is Uche Ogah.
“I was the person who gave the Certificate of Return to governor Ikpeazu as he was declared winner.
“Now, the court has said otherwise. One thing we know is that we are not above the law and we cannot disobey the laws of the land. After the court, another person we obey in our land is God and my conscience is my God. Another thing that guides us is the court and we must obey its order with immediate effect. If you were in the court that day, and I urge you the media, to go and study the court ruling very well, it was wonderful; it was direct.”
Meanwhile, the sacked governor of the state Okezie Ikpeazu has dared the INEC on the issuance of the CoR to Ogah, despite a notice of appeal and motion for stay of the orders made by Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court, Abuja.
The governor in a statement personally signed by him Abuja, told his supporters and Abians to remain calm because he remained the governor.
He said, “I have received with concern report of the purported issuance of Certificate of Return to Mr. Uche Ogah by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), as governor of Abia State, despite dependency of a notice of appeal and motion for stay of the orders made by Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court, Abuja.
“Our laws are clear on this matter. No one may be issued with a certificate of return let alone be sworn in as governor, when there is a subsisting appeal and application for stay.
“I want to appeal to Abians to remain calm and law abiding in the face of this provocation, unless and until the appellant courts have conclusively resolves the appeal, the status remains, I am still the Governor of Abia State.”
However, contrary to claims by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that they did not receive any Notice of Appeal from Governor Okezie Ikpeazu or an injunction stopping the Commission from issuing a Certificate of Return to Dr. Uche Ugah, the Attorney General of Abia State, Mr. Umeh Kalu, has said that INEC lied in its claims.
A proof service has shown that the Commission did indeed receive the two important documents and it was signed for by Saleh N. Ibrahim, Senior Clerical Officer at the Legal Services Department of the Commission’s Headquarters, Abuja, who stamped the Notice of Appeal and Injunction with the Commission’s official stamp by 12.50pm on Wednesday, June 29, 2016.
“It’s unfortunate that INEC said that it was not served. But the truth is that they were served. I have a proof to that. Saleh N. Ibrahim, Senior Clerical Officer at the Legal Services Department of the Commission’s Headquarters, Abuja, who stamped the Notice of Appeal and Injunction with the Commission’s official stamp by 12.50pm on Wednesday, June 29, 2016.
“With the foregoing, it is now clear that the Commission had no reason or cause to proceed with their dangerous action of issuing a Certificate of Return to Dr. Uche Ogah when it was clearly in receipt of a Notice of Appeal and Stay of Execution expressly forbidding them from taking any further action on the Judgment of Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court pending the determination of the Appeal in the case.
“It is rather surprising that the Commission could lend itself to be used for an act capable of destabilizing a State in Nigeria with the attendant consequences for anarchy and breakdown of law and order.” Kalu said.
The Abia State Government wishes to reiterate for the umpteenth time that Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu remains the Governor of Abia State irrespective of whatever order was issued by the Federal High Court and the consequential actions of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) pending the full exhaustion of all judicial avenues of seeking redress.
Abia State is a peaceful State consisting of law-abiding citizens but their patience should not be stretched and their civility taken for granted. The citizens of Abia State will resist any attempt to subvert their will which they freely expressed at the polls and which was affirmed by the Supreme Court.
PDP Vows To Oppose Installation Of Ogah
The Abia chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has announced that they will oppose any attempt to install, Dr. Uche Ogah, as the new governor of the state.
The resolution was declared at the end of its emergency meeting in Umuahia on Thursday.
According to the state Chairman of the party in Abia, Chief Johnson Onuigbo, who was accompanied by some members of the executive committee, the party discovered there is a plan to flood the state with military personnel.
He added that such an action would activate anarchy, and that the party was poised for a showdown over the planned inauguration.
He described the judgment of the Federal High Court, in Abuja, which ordered that Ogah should be sworn in as “a rape of democracy.”
The court, presided over by Justice Okon Abang, on Tuesday ordered Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu to vacate office as governor over a case of tax evasion. Abang also ordered that Ogah, who came second in the PDP primaries, should be sworn in as the governor.
Ogah was also issued the Certificate-of-Return by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Abuja on Thursday.
The PDP chairman, however, said that the judgment and issuance of Certificate-of-Return to Ogah had undermined the peace and tranquillity enjoyed in the state.
“Abia is not safe. I didn’t want to believe the rumour that the state will soon be invaded by the army because this is not a war zone. “We want to inform the world that there is tension in Abia because democracy is about to be raped.
“As a party, we will resist any move by anybody to undermine the peace in the state,” Onuigbo said.
He said that as a law-abiding state, the government had obtained an exparte injunction “restraining the state Chief Judge or any other judges from swearing in Ogah as governor”.
“We are ready for them, we are ready to die,” he said, adding, “If they do it, then they are inviting anarchy and confusion in the state.
“We are in a democracy so we want the world to hear and know that we are being shortchanged in Abia,” he said.
Onuigbo said that the party had sent emisaries to Ogah to persuade him “to sheath his sword and allow peace to reign in Abia”, to no avail.
He said that at the end of the current crisis, the party would met out sanction to Ogah for disregarding entreaties from the chieftains of the party.
I Shall Be Sworn-in As Abia Governor- 0gah
The Governor-elect of Abia State Dr. Uchechukwu Ogah, says that it is a dawn of a new era for the state.
Ogar stated this Thursday at the Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport Owerri, on his arrival from Abuja enroute to Umuahia, the Abia State capital.
Dr. Ogah, who was flanked by his wife and his supporters, said: ”I have been issued the certificate of return by the National Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the lawfully and duly elected governor of the state in the 2015 governorship polls in Abia State. I want to assure the people of the state that it is a new day for Abia State.”
He added: “By the grace of God I will be sworn in as the Governor today (Friday) or tomorrow (Saturday)”.
