THE Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Abia state, Senator Emma Nwaka, has faulted the recent Appeal Court verdict that annulled the election of the state governor, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu.

Nwaka, while making some clarifications on his write up titled “Court Of Appeal Verdict On Abia Governorship Election: PDP Position” stated that the Court of Appeal in error concluded that there was over voting and posited that “a case of over voting cannot be sustained unless the voters’ register is produced in court’”.

Meanwhile, the Special Adviser to Abia State Governor on Special Duties, Chief Ukpai Agwu Ukpai and the former Chairman of the Ohafia Branch of the Nigeria Bar Association, Mr Udo Uduma, have said that recent judgment may pose security risk to the state, as the verdict has led to several protests and invasion homes of some politicians in the state.
Ukpai told The Guardian that the court verdict is not doing Abia any good, but it is creating fear and confusion in the state.

Uduma faulted the alleged invasion of the homes of some public officers, adding such invasion amount to political desperation
Nwaka stated that “ in this case, APGA did not tender any voters’ register in court, less of ballot papers cast at the election to prove with accuracy the margin of over voting,” adding that the issue of over voting is adequately dealt with in Section 53 of the 2010 Electoral Act, as amended.

Subsection (2 ) in the Act, he stated , provides that “ where the votes cast at an election in any polling unit exceeds the number of registered voters in that polling unit, the result of that election for that polling unit shall be declared void by the Commission (INEC), and another election may be conducted at a date to be fixed by the Commission where the result at that polling unit may affect the overall result in the Constituency”.

According to Nwaka, “one thing that is clear and obvious from this provision is that the issue of over voting cannot be determined by any court without sighting the voters’ register, polling unit by polling unit”.