Supreme Court verdict will challenge me to do more, says Ikpeazu

Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State has described his victory at the Supreme Court as an indication that his mandate is divine and a challenge to do more.
Ikpeazu said this on Wednesday at his Umuobiakwa country home in Obingwa Local Government Area of the state, while reacting to the judgement.
Addressing newsmen shortly after the verdict, he said: “We feel challenged to do more for Abia people.
“The days ahead are going to be full of activities. We promise the people that we will acquit ourselves on the mandate they so freely gave to us.”
He expressed gratitude to God for the victory, describing it as “a call to service to boost the socio-economic development of Abia.”
The governor further said that the Supreme Court judgement reaffirmed his victory at the polls and thanked the people of Abia for their continued support.
He expressed his resolve to evolve programmes and policies that would improve the life and wellbeing of Abia people.
He also said that the judgement reinforced his belief that the judiciary remained the last hope of the common man.
Ikpeazu commended the Federal Government for the Judicial Reform which, according to him, played a major role in facilitating the speedy dispensation of justice in Nigeria.
He said: “Our journey from 2015 has been a treacherous one. I remain the governor that has been removed twice and is still sitting as governor.
“During my last tenure, between 2015 and 2019, we were in court for three years out of the four years.
“The reform in the nation’s judicial system has brought an end to the issue within seven months of our swearing-in and has given us enough time to work without distraction.”
Ikpeazu said that he was confident that the days ahead would be better and appealed to the people of Abia to support the development agenda of the state government.
Dr Alex Otti, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), had asked the Supreme Court to annul the results of the 2019 governorship poll in 13 of the 17 Local Government Areas of Abia, alleging irregularities.
A seven-member panel of the Supreme Court, led by Justice Olabode Rhodes-Vivour, reaffirmed the election of Ikpeazu as the governor.
The Supreme Court also affirmed the election of Ifeanyi Okowa of the PDP as Governor of Delta State.
Delivering the judgement, Justice Centus Nweze held that the apex court had no reason to upturn the concurrent decisions of the lower court.
“The appeal had been right described at the Court of Appeal as a metaphor of forensic Golgotha’’.
“The appellant woefully failed to prove over voting polling unit by polling unit as required by law.
“In the circumstance, the appeal is bereft of any iota convincing evidence and it is hereby dismissed. Ifeanyi Okowa is therefore affirmed as governor of Delta State’’, Nweze said.
Chief Great Ogboru who contested the March Governorship election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) had approached the apex court after his dissatisfaction with the decisions of the lower court.
The Court of Appeal had in a unanimous decision by a panel of five justices affirmed the Okowa’s victory at the poll.
Ogboru had claimed the election was marred by over voting and violent disruption, adding that the governor took advantage of the situation to amass unjustifiable votes.
The APC candidate who appealed on 37 grounds also claimed that the tribunal erred on the point of law in most of the issues that guided its decision.
He averred that the total number of votes declared to been scored by the governor were more than the total number of accredited voters for the election.
Okowa had urged the courts below to discountenance the allegation canvassed by Ogboru, adding that INEC conducted a free and fair election in the state.
He also averred that the appellant’s allegations were baseless and built on hearsay and could not be proved.
In another development, the court affirmed the election of Darius Ishaku of PDP as governor of Taraba State.
The apex court also affirmed the election of Abubakar Bello of APC as Niger State governor.