Former governor of Abia State and candidate of the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) in the Abia North Senatorial District election, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, is in the race again for the senatorial seat as the Court of Appeals ordered a rerun election.
The Court of Appeals had yesterday nullified the election of Chief Mao Ohuabunwa of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The court also declared that the election tribunal erred in affirming the declaration of Ohuabunwa as winner of the senatorial election.
Reacting to the ruling, Dr. Kalu said: “This is a victory for democracy aimed at the restoration of the people’s will, which was trampled upon through the abuse of fleeting power by those who thought they could mortgage the conscience of Abians. What the appeal court has succeeded in doing is the liberation of Abians from the shackles of authoritarianism and the associated power of rascality.
“Abians and I are now going to win, by God’s grace, by a landslide margin much more than we did in the last election, the outcome of which was brazenly manipulated against the wish of our people. This same thing happened in 2011 when my mandte was recklessly upturned by persons who had special relationships with the immediate-past president of the country.
“We are ready for the rerun. I congratulate the Appeals Court on this decision. It is a testament to the robust vibrancy of our judiciary, which remains the last hope of the oppressed. This, again, is victory for Nigerians generally, Abians particularly and for democracy.”
Meanwhile, people in Aba, Umuahia, Bende, Okigwe, Isiukwuato and other major cities in the state trooped out to the streets jubilating over the Appeals Court judgment. Almost all the beer parlours and other social centres were filled with patrons celebrating the latest development. Some of them wondered why the court did not go ahead to declare Kalu the winner.
Kalu, in response to telephone interviews on Thursday, said he preferred a rerun to an outright declaration of himself as winner. “The rerun will enable us to establish our strength, show our might and also test our popularity and acceptability once more. I prefer it to any other thing,” Kalu said.
