UMUAHIA—AS the Abia political crisis
lingers with various interest groups coming to Umuahia Government House for
solidarity with Governor Ikpeazu, the embattled governor of Abia State, Dr.
Okezie Ikpeazu yesterday, vowed that he could not afford to relinquish his seat
to Dr. Uche Ogah, saying that the mandate was freely given to him by God and
Abia people. Ikpeazu and Ogah Ikpeazu and Ogah The Governor also claimed that
the mandate given to him by Abia voters has spiritual connotation which he
could not afford to abandon.
Ikpeazu, who spoke while addressing
the people of Abia North who were on a solidarity visit to him at the
Government House, Umuahia, disclosed that he had previously visited Uche Ogah
three times to solicit his support and urged him to drop his ambition but to no
avail.
Don’t over-heat the polity, OYC warns Ohanaeze
Youth Council has warned against over-heating the political situation in the
state and allow the judiciary to resolve the political impasse.
Specifically, Ohanaeze youths have
attacked fiery Lagos lawyer, Festus Keyamo for his legal opinion on the Justice
Okon Abang judgment, describing his call for the immediate swearing -in of Dr.
Uche Ogar as Abia governor as “vexatious antics and vituperations.”
The group dismissed Keyamo’s legal
opinion on the matter as “a slap on the legal profession,” and “nothing but a
verbal diarrhoea.”
Faulting Keyamo’s legal opinion, the group in
a statement by Mazi Okemiri Alex, the chairman of State chairmen of OYC and
Chetachi Ikpe, Abia State deputy chairman of the group, asked if “Keyamo was
not aware that the governor of Abia State Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu is in the Appeal
Court to challenge the decision of the Federal High Court in Abuja.”
The group condemned what it called “all manner
of unguarded statements on the Abia political crisis by people from across the
country just to be noticed, rewarded or just talk for talking sake.”
OYC also condemned the call by a group,Ndigbo
Bu Otu Union which gave Governor Okezie Ikpeazu seven days to vacate Umuahia
Government House and warned that “any attempt to unleash violence on Abians and
Ndigbo will be resisted.”
According to them, the group is
non-existent but was just thrown up by politicians to create tension in Abia
State and urged those behind it to retrace their steps and give peace a chance
in the state. Senate delegation to Abia, supports Ikpeazu Meantime, the Senate,
Monday, dispatched some of its members to Abia State to commiserate with the
people over deaths of two of their prominent sons, former Foreign Affairs
Minister, Chief Ojo Maduekwe and Senator Onyeka Okoroafo. The Senate delegation
led by Senator Biodium Olujimi, and included the three Senators from the state,
also expressed support for Governor Okezie Ikpeazu over the political logjam in
the state. Senator Olujimi, who expressed the feeling of the Senate President,
Senator Bukola Saraki, to Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, said that the Senate was
solidly behind him in the face of the crisis in the state. “The authentic and
indomitable Governor of Abia State, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, we are here with the
consent of the Senate President and Chairman of the National Assembly,
Distinguished Senator, Dr Bukola Saraki, and on behalf of the Senate of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria, to condole with you and the entire people of Abia
State in these trying times. “First, over the political situation in Abia, and
over the death of your illustrious sons, Chief Ojo Maduekwe and Senator Onyeka
Okoroafo. “The Senate is solidly behind you in these trying times. You have our
support as the governor of the state, we are elected to make laws as lawmakers
and it is our duty to ensure that our laws are not abused. We are aware of the
political situation in Abia, rest assured that the Senate is with you,” Olujimi
said. In his remarks, Governor Ikpeazu thanked the Senate for standing by him,
the state and the bereaved families, even as he described the death of late
Senator Onyekachi Okoroafo and Chief Ojo Maduekwe as personal losses to him.
The governor told the visiting Senators that the recent ruling of Justice Okon
Abang of the Federal High Court Abuja was an attack on democracy and Nigerian
constitution. “I thank the Distinguished Senate for standing by me and Abians
at the time of trials. The death of the Chief Ojo Maduekwe is a personal loss
to me. He stood by me through the campaign period and he was a pillar in my
administration. He died when the state needed him most.” We still believe in
Abia charter of equity —Abia North PDP Similarly, stakeholders and membership
of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Abia North senatorial zone have
restated their support for the power shift under the doctrine of Abia Charter
of Equity, which provides for rotation of power to the three senatorial zones
of the state. Consequently, they had expressed support and solidarity to the
governor of Abia State, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, saying he emerged from Abia South
zone in line with the charter.
In their reaction to the political crisis in
the state, Abia North PDP frowned at the judgment of Justice Okon Abang of the
Federal High Court Abuja which favoured Dr. Uche Ogah, who is from the zone.
Rising from a stakeholders’ meeting held in Ohafia, Abia North PDP said that
they rejected the judgment. “The controversial and contentious judgment of the
Hon. Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court, Abuja Division came to us as
a surprise and a calculated attempt to rock the boat of a smooth sailing
government of Abia State under the able leadership of Okezie Ikpeazu, Ph.D.
“That the said judgment, which is
misconceived, unsearched and unknown to facts and law defeats all known
principles of justice.
“That we totally align with the
judgment of Hon. Justice Lewis Allagoa of the Federal High Court, Owerri
Division, is well reasoned and well researched both in facts and law thereby
vindicating and absolving Okezie Ikpeazu, Ph.D of any wrong doing with respect
to his tax documents.”
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