TheCable

Okezie Ikpeazu, governor of Abia state, on Friday said he would challenge the federal high court judgement that sacked him, up to the supreme court.

Ikpeazu said this at the government house, Umuahia, while reacting to INEC’s issuance of certificate to Uchechukwu Ogah.

Okon Abang, a justice of the federal high court, Abuja had on Monday ordered INEC to issue a certificate of return to Ogah and also ordered Ikpeazu to vacate office.

The development caused tension in the state on Thursday, following an alleged attempt by Ogah to get Theresa Uzokwe, the state chief judge, to swear him in as the governor.

Briefing reporters at the Government House, Ikpeazu said the illegality would not stand, saying that there was an injunction restraining Ogah from being sworn in.

“I am still the governor of Abia, so, I appeal to our people to remain calm until the final verdict of the supreme Court,” he said.

“This illegality will not stand. I will test the judgment in the appeal court up to the supreme court.

“Even if it was a death sentence, I don’t think that I will be executed without right of appeal. That right is fundamental, that right is undeniable and a denial of that right is a denial of my fundamental right.”

The governor said he was resolute in his determination to defend his mandate, and assured his supporters that the mandate remained intact.

“What is on trial in Abia is democracy and not me as a person, “he said. “The tenets of democracy emphasise that the will of the people is sacrosanct.”

Speaking on the allegation of tax evasion levelled against him by Ogah, Ikpeazu said that as a government employee, his tax was paid to Abia board of internal revenue.

He said that the board had come out with an affidavit to prove that the tax receipts he tendered were issued by it and was ready to defend the documents.

The governor urged the people to disregard the speculation in some quarters that the crisis in the state was influenced by the federal government, saying the government, which is currently fighting corruption, could not indulge in an “act antithetical to democracy”.

Ikpeazu expressed happiness over the conduct of youths in the state and urged them to maintain their calmness.

“Abia is calm contrary to current act of wanton destruction of oil pipelines in other Niger Delta states in the country,” he said.

“Abia perhaps is the only Niger Delta state in the country [sic] where youths have refused to join in vandalising federal government pipeline installations.”