Abia State Governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, has reacted to the judgment of the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal which reaffirmed him as the winner of the March 9, 2019 gubernatorial election in the state.
Recall that the three-man panel of the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Umuahia, the Abia state capital, and chaired by Justice A.L. Ogumoye, had Friday, dismissed the petition filed by 2019 APGA gubernatorial candidate, Dr. Alex Otti against the INEC’s declaration of Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu as duly elected governor of Abia in the last 2019 election.
The tribunal ruled that the petitioner failed to prove the case of over-voting, Non compliance to the INEC election guideline and electoral act.
But Governor Ikpeazu, in a statement forwarded to DAILY POST by his Chief Press Secretary, Onyebuchi Ememanka Friday night, expressed his profound gratitude to God Almighty for granting him victory at the Governorship Elections Tribunal.
Ikpeazu was quoted in the statement as saying, he bore no grudges against those who challenged his election, noting that they did so in exercise of their rights.
He urged them to sheathe their swords and join him in the building of the State.
According to him, “I thank the good people of Abia State who elected me overwhelmingly and have stood by me all these while. I’m assuring them that this judicial victory will energize me further to work harder for the peace, order and good government of Abia State.
“I must also thank the Judges of the Tribunal for standing strong and firm in the defense of the choice made by our people during the last elections, and for resisting any attempt to use the hallowed chambers of the judiciary as a theatre where the democratic yearnings and aspirations of our people are dismembered and destroyed”.
The Governor, however, saluted the industry and handwork of his legal team in brilliantly marshaling his case.
Alex Otti (Petitioner) had asked the tribunal to cancel fifteen out of the Seventeen Local Government Areas election results in Abia State.
Otti claimed that the respondents, PDP, and Governor Okezie Ikpeazu who was the governorship candidate of PDP perpetrated excessive malpractice in those LGAs in the last March 9 2019 election conducted in the state.
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