In a move aimed at clarifying the stalemate occasioned by the issuance of Certificate of Return to Mr. Uche Ogah as governor, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), yesterday reversed its earlier position and admitted receiving a notice of appeal from Abia State Governor, Mr. Okezie Ikpeazu.
The commission said the documents it received did not contain a stay of execution order, to stop the issuance of a certificate of return to Ogah as the next governor of the state. The electoral body had on Thursday morning issued a certificate of return to Mr. Ogah as directed by a Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday.
Justice Abang Okon had ruled that Ikpeazu submitted fraudulent tax docu-ments when he filed papers to run for governorship ticket on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Ogah was Ikpeazu’s main challenger in the governorship primaries conducted in December 2014, and had asked the court to nullify Ikpeazu’s candidacy on the basis of the tax default. On his part, Ikpeazu said he had appealed the ruling, and that he remains governor.
But on Thursday, INEC said it issued a certificate of return to Ogah because it had not been served Ikpeazu’s notice of appeal.After the state government released evidence countering that claim, the electoral body said the notice was submitted at the wrong INEC department. Documents released by the government showed that Ikpeazu’s notice was received and acknowledged by one Saleh Ibrahim, a senior clerical officer at the commission’s legal department, at the INEC headquarters in Abuja. In an explanation to Premium Times yesterday, spokesman for INEC, Nick Dazang, said Ikpeazu’s failure to provide a stay of execution order left the commission with no choice than to issue the certificate of return to Ogah. He said since Ikpeazu’s notice was not deemed sufficient, it had to, as a matter of policy, execute the judgment of the high court.
“I discovered that INEC received Ikpeazu’s notice. However, it did not contain a motion or order of stay of execution. In the circumstance, and in deference to the previous court order, INEC as a responsible regulatory (body) has no recourse than to issue Mr. Ogah the certificate of return,” Dazang said. “By law, a certificate of return is supposed to be issued within one week. Also, the commission has decided as a matter of policy to obey all subsisting court orders.
That means if the court were to issue a contradictory order, INEC has no option than to obey.” But Abia State Attorney- General, Umeh Kalu, in an earlier statement on Thursday night, said the governor’s legal team included the notice of stay of execution order with the appeal notice delivered to INEC.
“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 June 29, 2016.”
This illegality must stop- Gov
Speaking on the development, Ikpeazu described the stalemate as an illegality that would not stand. Addressing journalists on the development yesterday at the Governor’s Lodge Umuahia, Ikpeazu said he would contest the matter to the Appeal and the Supreme Court levels if need be.
He said: “Even if it was a death sentence I don’t think I will be executed without the right of appeal. I want to reassure the public especially, Abians that we are okay, we had temporary setback when somebody who did not run an election surreptitiously arranged and got judgment which sought to upturn the arrangement in the state. We are baffled by the urgency and the desperation to bounce into Government House.”
APGA backs court ruling
The leadership of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) leadership in the state has backed the court ruling that disqualified Ikpeazu and the certificate of return given to Ogah. In a statement signed by the state’s chairman of the party, Rev. Augustine Ehiemere, said the crime for which Ikpeazu was sacked was a serious one against the state.
Ex-NBA boss backs INEC
Former Chairman of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) Nsukka chapter, Mr. Gerald Eze, has said the INEC is right by obeying orders of court of competent jurisdiction as a body established by law, in issuing a certificate of return to Ogah as new governor of the state.
Eze stated this yesterday in Nsukka, while speaking on the matter. He said: “INEC did the right thing to issue the certificate of return to Ogah as directed by the court. The commission is established by law and must obey court orders.”
SEPA backs Ikpeazu over tax documents
Meanwhile, the South East Progressive Assembly (SEPA) has thrown its weight behind Ikpeazu, insisting that available statistics and evidence did not in any form suggest that the governor either forged his tax clearance or evaded payment ahead of the election. SEPA in a statement signed by its president, Ebere Uzoukwa and made available to journalists in Abuja, noted: “The attention of the SEPA has been drawn to yet another judgment by Abuja Federal High Court presided by Justice Okon Abang which asked Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu to vacate his seat for Uche Ogah over alleged tax evasion.
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