Supreme Court affirms Ikpeazu, Emmanuel winners of Abia, Akwa Ibom guber polls
Ikpeazu
The Supreme Court has upheld the elections of Gabriel Emmanuel and Okezie Victor Ikpeazu as duly elected governors of Abia and Akwa Ibom states, respectively.
The apex court also yesterday, set aside the earlier judgment of the Appeal Court, which nullified the elections held on April 11, 2015.
The sitting was presided by Chief Justice of Nigeria, Mahmood Mohammed alongside Justices Tanko Ibrahim Mohammed, Bode Rhodes-Vivor, Kudirat Kekerekun, Suleiman Galadima, Kumai Akaahs and Centus C. Nweze.
Delivering the judgment after almost 12 hours of intense argument and counter-argument, Justice Centus Chima Nweze, said he affirmed the declaration of Udom Gabriel and Okezie Victor Ikpeazu, by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as governors of Akwa Ibom and Abia states, respectively.
While unanimously upholding the judgment of Justice Nweze, they all agreed to give reasons for their judgment on February 15, 2016
The Court of Appeal, sitting in Owerri, removed Okezie Ikpeazu of the Peoples Democratic Party as governor of Abia State on December 30, 2015.
The court also declared Alex Otti of the All Progressives Grand Alliance the winner of the April 11 and April 25 supplementary elections in the state.
Delivering judgment in an appeal filed by Mr. Otti, the five-member panel, headed by Justice Oyebisi Omoleye, said the APGA candidate scored 164, 444 valid votes to defeat Mr. Ikpeazu who scored 114, 444 votes.
The court declared that Mr. Otti was the winner of the April 11 and April 25 supplementary elections in Abia.
Justice Omoleye said the cancellation of the elections held in three LGAs of Obingwa, Osisioma Ngwa and Isiala Ngwa by the returning officers after the results were uploaded to INEC was wrong.
Also the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja on December 18, 2015 nullified the Akwa Ibom State governorship election of April 11, removing the declared winner, Udom Emmanuel, from office.
Mr. Emmanuel’s election was challenged by the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Umana Umana.
At the election tribunal, Mr. Emmanuel of the Peoples Democratic Party, had secured partial victory, with the election cancelled only in 18 out of the state’s 31 local government areas.
The tribunal had ordered a rerun.
Mr. Emmanuel had challenged the ruling, insisting he won in all 31 LGAs.
The APC candidate, Mr. Umana, also appealed against the ruling, seeking a total nullification of the election.
A five-man panel at the Court of Appeal on Thursday December 18, 2015 dismissed Emmanuel’s argument, and cancelled the entire election.
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7 Comments
Let governance begins!
This is a miscarriage of justice in Abia State. Emmanuel actually won in AKS because his predecessor worked hard but TA Orji did nothing
TUFIAKWA
Where and who can we refer to as learned members of the Bar? Should we send Mathematicians to assist the Judges and Lawyers in cases that have to do with calculations?
Supreme Court has murdered democracy in Nigeria. They have obviously told
Nigerians that the only way to win election in Nigeria is to carry arm, bribe
the Judiciary and ignore the electorates. Nobody can believe in Nigeria again.
The fight against corruption is a charade.
Democracy is gone. If there will be election in 2019, I will advise
politicians never to bother about campaigning rather use the money to buy
caskets, machetes and gun to harass voters, give a number of votes to you and
keep money to bribe the nonsense Judiciary. This is the case of Abia State
which the Supreme Court upheld.
IN THE UMANA VERDICT, Buhari and APC national did not do right by Umana. He was in the battle all by himself. Even in America Obama helps his candidates to campaign. The man fought valiantly and peacefully. the mountain of evidence in his favor evaded the supreme caught because all they saw was the head-nod Akpabio gave them when he entered the courtroom signifying that the money for the judgement in his stooge’s favor was secured. 3 minutes into the head-nod, the verdict was bought and announced. WHAT A COUNTRY???????????? WHAT A JUSTICE SYSTEM??????? WHAT A SHAME??????????RDICT SELLING COURT: SUPREME COUNT OF NIGERIA. THE MOST CORRUPT COURT IN THE WORLD!!!!!!!!
SUPREME COURT OF NIGERIA, THE MOST CORRUPT, UNRELIABLE, BASTARDIZED COURT ON EARTH!!!!!!
SUPREME COURT THE LAUGHABLE, KANGAROO COURT SYSTEM, MOSTLY A DISGRACE TO ANY NATION THAT CALLS ITSELF A DEMOCRACY! SHAME ON NIGERIA, SHAME ON OUR GOVERNMENT AND ON NIGERIANS FOR PUTTING UP WITH THIS CHARADE!!!
Lot’s of work needs to be done in Abia State. Especially in Aba, the commercial city
One of the joys of a football team, or any other sports team, making it to the playoffs is that the fans of that team get to enjoy watching their team go for the crown in their home stadium
Can you imagine that Enyimba football club of Aba, having made it to the CAF champions league as Nigerian champions, will not be playing their home games at the Enyimba International Stadium in Aba, on account of an alleged state of disrepair of the Enyimba International Stadium
Enyimba football club – 6 times Nigerian champions and 2 times CAF champions- will be playing their home CAF champions league games at the Adokiye Amiesimaka stadium in Port Harcourt.
This is very sad and a great injustice to Aba residents
The Abia State Government, the Federal Government and Ohaneze Ndigbo should ensure that any alleged problem with the Enyimba International Stadium is fixed. So that Enyimba football club can play their homes games in their own stadium
By the way, the Enyimba International Stadium may not be the most modern stadium in Nigeria, but it is a nice and historic stadium. Sitting in the middle of the market, it has a lot of character like the Coliseum in ancient Rome. It should even be a National monument.
Whoever made the decision for Enyimba football club to move their CAF home games to Port Harcourt does not have their priorities right. In an era where Nigerians are looking inward, the preference for a “modern” stadium over a hardworking teams home stadium is annoying
We will review and take appropriate action.