For Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia state,  It was an undesirable and even annoying gift.. The unwanted souvenir came on a day that the governor had made elaborate plans to say good bye to the passing year, and to embrace the New Year 2016 with confidence and hope for a better tomorrow..

Indeed, December 31, 2015 – New Year eve – was the day that the Appeal Court sitting in Owerri, the Imo state capital, nullified the election of Ikpeazu as governor of Abia state, and thereby literally poured sand in all the arrangements he had earlier made to celebrate a blissful New Year day.

The Court in its judgment declared Ikpeazu’s main rival, Dr. Alex Otti, of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), winner of the April 11  and April 25, 2015  supplementary elections in the state.

Delivering judgment in an appeal filed by Otti, the five-member panel, headed by Justice Oyebisi Omoleye, ruled the APGA candidate scored 164, 444 valid votes to defeat Ikpeazu who scored 114, 444 votes.

The Appeal Court ruled that the cancellation of the elections held in three local government areas of Obingwa, Osisioma, and Isiala Ngwa by the Returning Officer, Prof. Benjamin Ozumba, vice chancellor, University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN),  after the results had been  uploaded to the data base of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC}, was unlawful, and, therefore,  unacceptable.

“In the Electoral Act, the Returning Officer has the right to only declare results of elections and not to cancel elections.

“This panel discovered that the earlier results uploaded to INEC headquarters correspond with the correct valid registered voters in the three local government areas, while that awarded to the respondent (Ikpeazu) shows over voting and therefore null and void.’’

Furthermore, the Appeal Court picked holes with the judgment of the Abia Election Petition Tribunal, which upheld the election of Ikpeazu. It also faulted INEC for declaring Ikpeazu, who contested the controversial election on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) winner of the election.

Otti, had after the ruling of the Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Umuahia, approached the Appeal Court with a plea to reverse the ruling of the tribunal, and declare him winner of the election.  He got all that he asked for.

Nevertheless, it is not yet Uhuru for the APGA candidate as Ikpeazu, had soon after the Appeal Court judgment vowed to take the struggle to reclaim his “mandate” to the Supreme Court, which is the country’s apex court.

Addressing journalists in Umuahia, Governor Ikpeazu, requested his supporters to remain calm, while the Supreme Court sorts out what he considers as travesty of justice perpetrated by the Appeal Court.  He was optimistic that the Supreme Court would rule in his favour.

However, hundreds of his supporters – mainly drawn from Aba North, Aba South, Obingwa, Ugwunagbo, Osisioma Ngwa, Ukwa East, Ukwa West, Isiala Ngwa North and Isiala Ngwa South – the nine local government areas that constitute the Ukwa-Ngwa sub-ethnic group, trooped to the streets at the weekend to protest the decision of the appellate court.

The protesters led by several notable politicians from the area, including the former Senate President Adolphus Wabara, vowed that they will resist attempt from any quarter to rob their son the mandate given him by the Abia electorate.  Ikpeazu hails from Obingwa local government area, considered to be the largest local government in the state which is made up 17 local government areas.

But while Ikpeazu’s supporters, and indeed the Abia state chapter of the PDP were remonstrating against the Appeal Court judgment, the Abia state chapter of APGA said the judgment was unimpeachable.

“It was a landmark judgment that proved that the judiciary still has judges of integrity…The judges were thorough in their findings, and therefore the ruling cannot be faulted”,  said the state chairman of APGA, Rev. Augustine Ehiemere.

The implication is that Governor Ikpeazu is walking a tightrope, and would need the best lawyers in the land to get the Supreme Court reverse the ruling of the appellate court.

The PDP first came to power in the state in 1999, with the election of Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, an international businessman, as governor.  Kalu, who hails from Igbere in Abia North Senatorial District, was re-elected governor in 2003, on the platform of the same party.

But due to irreconcilable differences with the then President Olusegun Obasanjo who became president in 1999 also on the platform of PDP, Orji abandoned PDP before the end of his second tenure in 2007, and formed the Progressive People’s Alliance (PPA),

And before the 2007 general elections, the PPA with former Governor Orji as the helmsman decided that political power will shift to Abia Central Senatorial zone.

Though Kalu’s chief of staff for almost eight years, Chief Theodore Ahamefule Orji, had prior to the elections been arrested and detained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), for allegedly tampering with the finances of the state, Kalu insisted for reasons best known to him that Theodore should be  the governorship candidate of PPA.

He later won the election, a development which prompted former Governor Orji to apply both conventional and unconventional means to free Theodore from the stranglehold of the EFCC  He was later sworn-in as governor, a development which conferred on him the immunity garb..

The marriage between Theodore and his political godfather didn’t last for long following irreconcilable differences between the two politicians.  Former Governor first decamped to APGA, before finally berthing at the PDP camp.

According to many citizens of Abia state, including the elites, the eight years of former Governor Orji’s administration were akin to years eaten by the locusts. The state witnessed infrastructural deficit during those eight years; added to several months of unpaid salaries, and growing youth unemployment.

It was against this backdrop that most eligible voters in Abia , especially  from old Bende political block including Umuahia, Arochukwu, Abiriba, Ohafia, Item, Igbere, Ugwueke, Uzuakoli, Alayi, Umunneochi, Isuikwuato and Ovim, resolved not to vote for any candidate of the PDP thrown up by former Governor Orji.

That explained why many eligible voters in the state gave Otti- the gubernatorial candidate of APGA – massive electoral support  to the detriment of  the PDP gubernatorial candidate.

Indeed, when the news of the nullification of Governor Ikpeazu’s election by the appellate court sitting in nearby Owerri, the Imo state capital, filtered into Abia state, most citizens of the state danced along the streets of some cities in the state to celebrate Otti’s victory.

“I am very grateful to God that the Appeal Court ruled in favour of Dr. Otti, said Nnenna Kalu, who returned to Ohafia from Lagos to spend Christmas and New Year holidays.

This kind of perception would have forced the Ukwa-Ngwa people, whose son Ikpeazu is the first Ukwa-Ngwa man to occupy the position of governor since the state was created in 1991, to throw brickbats on the Appeal Court for annulling Ikpeazu’s election.

In the days and weeks to come, the Abia state may likely embark on showcasing the development strides of the Ikpeazu administration to convince the people that the governor is a million miles ahead of his predecessor in terms of development projects.

One official of Ikpeazu administration who spoke on condition of anonymity said Governor Ikpeazu has in the last seven months spruced up some major roads in Aba, the state commercial centre, and should be allowed to continue as governor.

His view is shared by many residents of the city, but since there is a great difference between ability to deliver the dividends of democracy, and securing power through laid down rules, it is left for the Supreme Court to determine whether or not Ikpeazu was legitimately invested with power to rule the state.

Leadership……

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