Okowa, ex-Kaduna governor, others hail appeal court’s ruling

Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State has hailed the Court of Appeal ruling, which declared Mr. Eyitayo Jegede, as the authentic governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

A statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Charles Aniagwu in Asaba, described the decision by the Justice Ibrahim Salauwa-led panel as a triumph of good over the political bitterness that was aided by selfish interests.

He said Jegede was duly nominated as the party’s candidate and urged the Ali Modu Sheriff’s faction of the party and its candidate, Mr. Jimoh Ibrahim to support
him.

He said: “This ruling is very significant because it showed that the will of the people, as clearly expressed, cannot be thwarted by a clique that is being propelled by political bitterness and selfish interests.”

He also lauded the Supreme Court which asked the appeal cour to deliver its reserved ruling on the matter.

Also, the former Governor of Kaduna State, Balarabe Musa, said the appeal court’s decision had averted a crisis situation in the state.

He said since the dispute had been resolved, the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) should postpone the election by two weeks to enable the PDP to recover and participate in the election.

A PDP chieftain, Mr. John Ngbede, also lauded the landmark judgment.

In an interview with The Guardian, he said the logjam had slowed down the party’s pace in the state and the nation at large.

According to him, the judgment was a rebirth for the party to regain power in the coming general elections in 2019.

Ngbede said the PDP was already correcting the mistakes that it made in the last election, which caused it to lose to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

“The era of impunity is over as we can see and what happened was a testimony that the PDP would emerge stronger to compete in future elections in the country,” he said.

He urged the INEC to postpone the election to enable Jegede to have a level-playing field to contest.

While calling for stiffer measures against erring judges, Ngbede urged reforms in the judiciary to rid it of some bad eggs.