Third Contender Emerges In Abia Guber Tussle

The Abia State government tussle has taken a different twist as a People’s Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial aspirant in the state, Friday Nwosu has filed a suit in the court claiming to be the right beneficiary of the Federal High Court judgment which sacked Governor Okezie Ikpeazu.
Nwosu averred that the court, having disqualified Ikpeazu as the governorship candidate of the PDP in Abia State in the 2015 polls the court should have declared him as governor-elect and not Dr Uchechukwu Sampson Ogah.
The PDP governorship aspirant argued that the court ought not to have allowed Ogah to benefit from the primary election he condemned by refusing to sign the result while also petitioning the leadership of the party and asking it to conduct another primary election.
In his suit No FHC/ABJ/CS.71/2016, filed at the Federal High Court, Owerri against Ogah, the PDP, Ikpeazu and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Nwosu is seeking five reliefs. An order setting aside the declaration of the 1st respondent, Uche Ogah as the elected governor of Abia State as declared by the trial court, an order that the 1st respondent is stopped from claiming any right or benefit from the 2nd respondent’s (PDP) gubernatorial primary election of 8/12/2014 in Abia State having waived his right to do so, an order striking out the 1st respondent (Uche Ogah’s) suit on the ground that it constitutes an abuse of court process; an order that  the suit of 1st respondent i.e (suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/71/2016) is incompetent and the trial court lacks the jurisdiction to hear and determine the suit.”
Further stated: “The judgement is an error and cannot stand judicial scrutiny. Dr Uche Ogah should not benefit from an exercise he totally condemned by refusing to sign the result and petitioning the party to conduct another primary election. He should wait for the rerun of the PDP primary which the prayed for in his petition to the party. In the eyes of the law, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu and Sir Friday Nwosu were the only candidates who ran the party primary. Since Dr Okezie has been disqualified, I remain the lawful candidate of the PDP and ought to be declared governor.”
Justice A. Alagoa of the Federal High Court, Owerre has fixed today and tomorrow to hear Nwosu’s suit against Ikpeazu and Ogah.
Meanwhile, Dr Uche Ogah has described as an affront on the rule of law, the refusal of the state’s Chief Judge, Theresa Uzoukwu to swear him in as the duly elected governor of the state.
He said the action was capable of undermining the peace and stability of Abia, adding that the stay of execution of the order of court procured by Ikpeazu was a black-market injunction that had no force of law.
Dr. Ogah who spoke to journalists in Abuja through his special Adviser on Public Communication, Onyekachi Ubani said there was a clear difference between a pre-election matter  on which the Federal Court premised the ruling and post-election trial of matters by tribunals on the issue of stay of execution or arrest of judgement.