Ozekhome knocks Justice Abang for sacking Abia governor Ikpeazu, says decision lacks proper research
Samson Ogah
A senior advocate of Nigeria, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN) has criticised the judgment delivered by Justice Okon Abang of the federal high court, Abuja, which sacked the governor of Abia State, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu and awarded his seat to Dr. Uche Ogah, his closest rival in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) primaries, saying it lacks research.
The learned silk said the court was very wrong in that decision, insisting that possession of tax clearance is not one of the qualifications envisaged by the 1999 constitution.
He said: “The court was very wrong. Possession of Tax Clearance is not one of the qualifications envisaged by the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria. Sections 177 and 182 of the Constitution deals with qualification and disqualification, respectively. To be qualified to contest for governorship, you must be a citizen of Nigeria by birth, you must be 35 years old, you must have been sponsored by a political party you belong and you must possess at least a school certificate. None of them applies to Dr. Ikpeazu.
“For him to be disqualified as in section 182, you must have been declared bankrupt, you must have been declared to be insane, you must have been declared to be a member of a secret cult, you must not be a civil servant who has not retired or resigned from office, you must not have been indicted by a judicial commission of inquiry or panel in the last ten years for matters including dishonesty.
“You must also not have produced a fake certificate. This certificate does not refer to tax clearance, it means academic qualification. None of these things apply to Ikpeazu. For the court to have disqualified him on the basis of providing a forged tax clearance certificate, in my view, is a result of lack of proper research.”
According to him, forgery is a criminal offence, which must be proved beyond reasonable doubt. “The documents before the court were just originating summons, it was paper work. Ikpeazu was never called to the dock to be cross-examined, the case was not proved beyond reasonable doubt and you cannot decide a criminal matter in a civil proceeding. That is why the tribunals always say the person accused of corruption or crime in an election petition must be proven beyond reasonable doubt. There was none in this case.
“Even if we assume, which we have not conceded, that Ikpeazu committed forgery, the question is what is the penalty under the Electoral Act? Under the Electoral Act, you have to look at Sections 140, 141, 142 and 143”, he declared, adding that the only reason you can take a certificate from a sitting governor and give to another person is if that person does not have what is called plurality or majority of votes.
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9 Comments
Hm
very clear my learned wig , there is a connivance between INEC and APC to robe Ikpazu off his mandate by bribing that dog eater called injustice Abang , that Judge should be sacked with immediate effect by the judicial council as a deterrent to others like him and Mr. ogah properly punished for attempt coup and accepting bribe from APC to decamp once he is inaugurated .
My brother cool temper and wait for the Appeal and maybe supreme courts to embarrass Okon Abang when they lecture him that any matter decided by electoral tribunal,and supreme Court cannot be revisited.The tribunal and supreme courts had decided on the eligibility if Ikpeazu and upheld his election, why is Abang now attempting to retry a case already done by the supreme Court?
My brother, this so-called “Justice” Okon-Abang is an aberration, a disgrace to whichever State he emanates from! I just hope he is not from Akwa-Ibom State; please! God forbid! This must be a typical Calabar man, from Cross-River State, who after eating some “fried dog-meat” and drinking “palm wine” with APC agents in Abuja, decides to ridicule the Nigerian Supreme court and the Nigerian Justice system. My verdict about this so-called judge is thus: he is a fraudulent & corrupt judge, who is only very eager to please Mr Buhari (any time and any how) and by so doing, gain his attention and appiontment, possibly to the same Supreme court, where honest and selfless judges are sitting & working hard daily to protect the Nigerian constitution. Could someone in Nigeria kindly send a strong petition against this fraudulent judge to the regulatory body in Nigeria against corrupt judges – the Judicial Council or whatever? Before this man infiltrates where he is not fit to even infiltrate, even by default? As for the actual politician, who “produced a fake certificate,” during the last nation-wide election, I thought Nigerians already know the culprit. if I may add here, he is the current popular “corruption hunter, judge and executioner” resident at a place called Aso-Rock. Nobody dare accuse him of anything, not even of “faking a WAEC certificate”; but he can accuse, judge and execute others with the help of some dog-eating judges and some other Ajegunle SAN-lawyers from somewhere in Lagos or thereabout!
What the supreme court and the court of appeal decided was whether mr Ikpeazu won the election. U must also know that Ugah was not a party to that matter. This is a fresh suit between ugah and Ikpeazu and not between Oti and Ikpeazu. What the federal high just decided is whether Ikpeazu was qualified to contest. It is submitted that the earlier judgment does not act as a bar on this matter which is a fresh suit.
Okon Abang is a criminal and one that must not be seen in the court room again. I wonder how much he was paid for this? Look at how many live he has tried to endangered if not that abians are peaceful people. Or, is he paid to cause problem in igboland? anything can happen. a man that had second class lower in all his certificates what can he preside over. come over here in Uk and see how lawyers scrutinize issue before delivering judgement. lol, criminals in court room!
Thank you my brother; and may the good Lord our Father bless you and family for standing for the truth and only the truth in our dear country Nigeria. Ask for this shameless, cheap and disgraceful judge called Okon Abang, I am so embarassed by his name alone, I just pray and hope he is not from my State. For by his actions so far & others expected of him in this future, he is just one more African Judas Iscariot!
God bless you sir. Your own SAN is not political like so many of your contemporaries. This is law at its best devoid of emotions and personal gratification
With due respect to the learned silk, I hold the view that the learned Judge displayed uncommon brilliance in that judgment and it will go a long way in advancing Nigeria’s legal jurisprudence.section 223 of the 1999 constitution empowers political parties to make their own constitutions to regulate their own affairs which includes qualification for nomination by a political party provided it does not contravene provisions of the constitution on the same subject matter. In this case there is no provision as to presenting valid tax clearance certificates in the constitution,therefore the constitution has not been contravened. Learned silk must know that sections 177 and 182 of the constitution cannot be read in isolation.they must be read together with section 223 which empowers political parties to make their constitutions.the law is that only a political party can sponsor a candidate for election who must meet the requirements of that party to enable it sponsor him or her. Having failed to meet the requirements of the PDP mr. Ikpeazu was not qualified to contest,and in the eye of the law he did contest the Abia state governorship election. Learned silk also argued That a criminal matter cannot be decided in a civil matter. With due respect it is possible.however proof must be beyond reasonable doubt. In Wike vs. Dakuku, the supreme said Dakuku ought to prove the allegations of electoral violence beyond reasonable doubt which Dakuku could not do. This means that once there is proof beyond reasonable doubt, a criminal matter can decided in a civil matter. Learned silk also said that the electoral act does no provide for punishment for forgery.what the court has done is not to punish Ikpeazu for forgery rather,it is saying that by not having valid clearance certificate he was not qualified to contest election.I finally submit that mr. Ikpeazu can still be tried for forgery in a criminal matter and it will not amount to double jeopardy because he has been tried for the offence of forgery. Kekemeke Baimase
We will review and take appropriate action.