A People’s Democratic Party (PDP)
governorship aspirant in Abia State, Dr Uche
Ogah, Wednesday said his demand to be sworn
in as governor was not borne out of
desperation.
He said contrary to impression being created,
his case against Governor Okezie Ikpeazu was
far from being an ambush.
According to him, his victory at the court is
valid and not “a hurriedly executed legal
ambush for the acquisition of political power as
being insinuated by some persons.”
“My case is strongly anchored on facts, and the
refusal of Ikpeazu to respond to the core issues
and his resort to propaganda speaks volumes,”
Ogah said.
At a briefing in Lagos through his counsel
Mr Monday Ubani, Ogah said his case predated
Ikpeazu’s swearing in as governor and had
reached the Supreme Court before returning to
the lower court.
Ogah said his claim was that Ikpeazu was not
eligible to participate in the primaries on the
basis that he failed to pay his taxes as and
when due as required by the 1999 Constitution,
PDP’s Guidelines, and the Electoral Act of 2010.
He said on the face of it, Ikpeazu’s tax clearance
was questionable.
The Tax Clearance form (Code PD002/G), dated
November 4, 2014, and sworn to at the High
Court Registry, Aba, shows that Ikpeazu’s tax
receipt number for December 2011 is 0012849;
that of December 2012 is 0012846 and that of
December 2013 is 0012847 and 0012848.
“Did he use one booklet to pay tax for three
years? Is he the only one paying tax? How
come the tax number which ends in 49 came
first rather than last?,” Ubani asked.
He said Ogah went to court soon after the
primaries because the PDP’s appeal panel failed
to respond to his complaints about Ikpeazu’s
alleged non-qualification.
When he filed the suit in 2014, Ikpeazu
challenged the court’s jurisdiction. The appeal
process got to the Court of Appeal until it was
decided by the Supreme Court which ruled that
the Federal High Court had jurisdiction to hear
the case.
The first judge handling the case, Justice
Adeniyi Ademola, withdrew from the case on the
basis that he was accused of bias and returned
the file to the Chief Judge. The matter was re-
assigned to Justice Okon Abang.
“If Ikpeazu is convinced about the rightness of
his cause, he should vacate the seat, plead his
case in a court of law and when granted victory
come back rather than resort to propaganda,”
Ubani said.
According to him, the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) should not be
blamed for issuing Ogah with a certificate of
return because the court ordered that it should
be with immediate effect.
Besides, there was no order to the contrary
brought to INEC’s notice. “We got an enrolment
order which INEC complied with,” Ubani said.
The lawyer said legal steps would be taken to
discharge the restraining order made by an
Osisioma High Court stopping Ogah’s
inauguration.
“We have to vacate the order lawfully even
though the judge who made the order did not
indicate a return date,” Ubani said.
On why Ogah should be sworn in, the lawyer
said an appeal does not operate as a stay of
execution in pre-election matters, adding that it
is “absurd” for a court of coordinate jurisdiction
to arrest an order made by another court.
“The Inspector-General of Police and the
Attorney-General of the Federation should have
ensured compliance with Justice Abang’s order
in the absence of any contrary order, because
the judgement says ‘with immediate effect’, and
an appeal does not mean a stay of execution
because it is not a criminal case,” Ubani said.
He said Ogah would not take the laws into his
hands but would pursue his case to the logical
conclusion through the courts, adding that he
was not desperate to be governor.
Ubani said Ogah, an oil magnate, entrepreneur,
investor and President of Master Energy Group,
a conglomerate with over 15 subsidiaries and
interests across a variety of industries with over
40,000 employees, “is not in the race for the
money”.
“He sees involvement in politics as an
opportunity to have more solid and sustainable
impact on Abia,” he added.

uche ogah is theman of the people, ikpeazu must go.

Ogah is a multibillionaire who is in d race to serve his people unlike Ikpeazu who is nt worth 10m b4 becoming Governor

But why did Ikpeazu make that kind of mistake in his tax payment