Abia: INEC Lied, They Were Served Notice Of Appeal – Attorney General
Mahmood Yakubu, INEC Chairman[/caption]
The Attorney General of Abia State, Mr. Umeh Kalu has hit out at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of the state, claiming that they were served Notice of Appeal from Governor Okezie Ikpeazu.
The notice, according to Kalu was an injunction stopping the Commission from issuing a Certificate of Return to Dr. Uche Ugah.
The Abia State AGF, further provided documents showing the documents received and signed by the Senior Clerical Officer at the Legal Services Department of the Commission’s Headquarters, Abuja Saleh N. Ibrahim, on Wednesday, June 29, 2016, by 12.50pm.
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It will be recalled that INEC on Thursday issued a Certificate of Return to Dr. Uche Ugah as governor of Abia State, citing a court order, mandating the commission, as they did not receive any Notice of Appeal from Governor Okezie Ikpeazu.
The INEC action followed Monday’s judgment by Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja, that following discrepancies in Ikepazu’s tax papers, he should not have run as a candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2015 election.
Ogah, who came second in the PDP primary, was declared the candidate.
However, in a turn of events, a High Court in the State stopped the Chief Judge of Abia State, and any other judiciary officer, from swearing-in Mr. Uche Ogah as governor.
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“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,” Kalu said.
“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, who insisted that Governor Ikpeazu remained the governor of the state, called on all Abians to resist any attempt to subvert their will which they freely expressed at the polls pending the full exhaustion of all judicial avenues of seeking redress.
