The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has congratulated Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State and his Abia State counterpart, Okezie Ikpeazu, over the Governorship Elections Petition Tribunals judgement which upheld their elections.
The party in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan said the verdicts placed a seal on the acceptance of the governors as demonstrated in their landslide victory at the March election in both states.
Ologbondiyan said the report of celebrations in the states at the breaking of the news of the verdict was a testimony that indeed justice was upheld in the rulings.
He said that like other governors elected on the platform of the PDP, Okowa and Ikpeazu stand out in their commitments towards developing their states in spite of prevailing challenges.
These according to him include the massive infrastructural projects in key sectors such as manufacturing, agriculture, oil and gas, power, road infrastructure, education among others.
“The PDP urges the governors not to relent but to uphold their
commitments in delivering on their mandates for the good of all, in line
with the manifesto of the PDP,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ikpeazu has extended hand of fellowship to Dr Alex Otti, the governorship candidate of All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) following his victory at the tribunal.
Ikpeazu made this known on Wednesday while addressing a news conference in reaction to the victory at the 2019 Governorship Election Tribunal in Umuahia.
He said that the task of building the state required collective efforts and collaboration of the people, irrespective of religious or party affiliations.
“As I speak, about five governorship candidates from different parties have come to participate in our policy making sessions to fashion out a new direction for the state.
“I invite the APGA candidate to sheath his sword and respect the will of the people to join in the onerous task of building a new state.
“This task is beyond what only one man can do. It is a collective effort that involves all the people of the state,” he said.
According to him, the new development calls for active participation of the people of as they rededicate themselves to service of the state.
Ikpeazu said that his administration would be more committed, dedicated as well as focus in actualising its vision and agenda to transform the state.
He added that “election is about offering oneself for service and it is the people that determine who serve at whatever time.’’
He said that the electorate had spoken through their ballot papers during the election.
Ikpeazu expressed gratitude to God for granting him victory at the tribunal, adding that the mandate of the people had been confirmed by the ruling.
In a related development, the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Kwara State, on Friday, dismissed the PDP petition seeking the nullification of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazak’s election.
The chairman of the tribunal sitting in Ilorin, Justice Bassey Effiong, said the petitioners were alleging directly that the second respondent, AbdulRazak, presented a fake WAEC certificate to INEC before the March 9 gubernatorial election.
Effiong said the PDP candidate, Mr Razak Atunwa, failed to prove the allegations.
“All evidences before us show that Abdulrazak sat for the examination and was therefore qualified to run for the office of the governor.
“From all the evidences before us, we hold that the petition lacks merit and is hereby dismissed,” the chairman of the three-man panel, announced in an unanimous judgment.
Effiong said the law stated that where a petitioner made the commission of a crime the kernel of his petition, then he must prove it beyond reasonable doubt.
“Has the petitioners discharged the burden of proof expected of them, and rom the evidence in this case, the answer is a resounding ‘No’.
“We hold that all the evidences presented by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) which the petitioners had relied upon and the subpoena, were at variance with the pleadings of the petitioners,” he said.
Effiong said WAEC, which is the only statutory body to issue such documents had made it clear that AbdulRazak’s credential had emanated from it.
He said that the witness presented by the petitioner, Olorunshola Victor, WAEC senior examination officer in Ilorin office, presented the subpoena documents, confirming the authenticity of the WAEC certificate of AbdulRazak.
“Victor told the tribunal that he was standing in for the first witness, Waheed Amode, who could not appear in court because of an unaffordable official meeting he had in Abuja
“He confirmed that the governor sat for his West Africa School Certificate (WASC) examination in 1976 at the Government College, Kaduna,” Effiong said.
The chairman said that the second respondent also presented a witness, who confirmed the authenticity of the WAEC certificate belonging to AbdulRazak.
“The witness, Mohammed Yaro told the court that he was graduated from Government College, Kaduna, in 1976 with AbdulRazak and they both sat for the WAEC examination.
“The witness said that, the governor’s serial number in WAEC was 119, while his was 122,” Effiong said.
The chairman said that all documents submitted by the respondents were not forged, as the documents were applicable to the election and the subsequent elections to come.
“The respondent was qualified to contest as at the time of the election and has won the election, having polled majority of the votes,” Effiong said.
Also, the Taraba Governorship Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja, on Friday, upheld the election of Governor Ishaku Darius of PDP, as the winner of the March 9 governorship election in the North-East state.
Alhaji Abubakar Danladi of the APC, filed a petition, challenging the election of Darius.
Delivering judgement, Chairman of the three-member tribunal, Justice M.O Adewara, declared that Danladi and his party, APC, were not qualified to contest in the election.
Adewara held that due to the disqualification of Danladi by the Federal High Court, Jalingo APC had no candidate in the governorship election and as such can be deemed to not have participated in the election.
“A political party can be said to have participated in an election where it has not been restricted by the law.
“A candidate that has been disqualified isn’t a candidate under the law and the political party should not have sponsored him. “
After Danladi had been disqualified by the Supreme Court, his counsel, Alex Akoda, had approached the tribunal to strike out their petition.
APC, however, petitioned the tribunal to relist them in the petition.
In their application, they prayed that the court should replace the disqualified candidate with the candidate that ran for deputy governor alongside Danladi.
The tribunal, however, denied the motion.
Adewara held that the position of deputy governor was based on nomination.
He further said the deputy governor candidate cannot replace the disqualified candidate because he wasn’t the one who won the party primaries.
Danladi had petitioned the court to either declare him winner or nullify the election conducted on March, 9.
He had petitioned the court on the basis of alleged over-voting and non- compliance with the electoral act( as a mended).
He also claimed that the election was characterised by malpractices and and prayed the tribunal to annul the election and declare him winner or in the alternative, order a fresh election.
He also alleged that Ishaku had not been duly elected by majority of votes cast.
“In this petition, the petitioners did not discharge their responsibilities of establishing noncompliance.
“Consequently, this petition has failed and is hereby dismissed for lack of merit,” the tribunal chairman declared,” the judge held.
