A former Abia State governorship aspirant, Mr. Uchechukwu Ogah, whose bid to become governor through a pre-election suit which was dismissed by the Supreme Court on Friday, has congratulated his rival and the Governor of the state, Okezie Ikpeazu, whose election was affirmed by the apex court’s verdict.
A five-man bench of the apex court led by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, had on Friday unanimously affirmed Ikpeazu’s election after dismissing Ogah’s appeal for lacking in substance.
Ogah’s case which he won at the Federal High Court, Abuja, but lost at the Court of Appeal and was also dismissed by the apex court on Friday, was built on the allegation that Ikpeazu submitted tax documents containing false information to the Independent National Electoral Commission ahead of the April 11, 2015, governorship election in the state.
But Ogah, through a statement circulated by his aides on Saturday, said he had accepted the verdict and urged all the people of the state to support Ikpeazu as governor of the state.
The statement read, “On the 12th of May 2017, the Supreme Court of Nigeria gave their final verdict over my case with Dr Okezie Ikpeazu, the governor of Abia State. Even though a painful verdict, but as someone that believes in the rule of law and the judiciary, I have accepted the decision of the apex court in good faith.
“As the legal battle comes to an end with the Supreme Court’s declaration, I’m exceedingly happy today that in the course of this struggle, I never resorted to self-help nor encouraged my supporters to indulge in any form of violence either in my State or elsewhere.
“May I especially thank my teeming supporters for standing by me all through this journey and may I also use this golden opportunity to congratulate His Excellency, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, governor of Abia State and urge all Abians to join hands in supporting the Governor in order to move our dear state forward.”
