• INEC issues Ogah certificate of return as Governor-elect
• Ikpeazu panics, declares two-day holiday, vows to stay on
• Court stops swearing-in of new governor
• Police step up security at government house

A major constitutional crisis is looming in Abia State as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday issued a certificate of return to Dr. Samson Uchechukwu Ogah as the Governor-elect of Abia State.

But Governor Okezie Ikpeazu said he won’t vacate the Abia State Government House. Ikpeazu said that he had appealed against the Abuja High Court judgement, which on Monday sacked him as governor of the state.

However, Ogah yesterday declared that he would be sworn in today. The Abuja court, presided over by Justice Okon Abang, had ruled that Ikpeazu was in default of his tax payment, and ordered INEC to immediately issue certificate of return to Ogah as Governor-elect.

INEC obeyed the court order yesterday morning at its National Headquarters shortly before the stakeholders’ meeting on the suspended rerun elections in Rivers, Imo, Kogi and Kano states.

Ambassador Lawrence Nwuruku, INEC’s commissioner in charge of South-East, who later addressed journalists at the venue of the meeting, said the commission merely obeyed court order. “The situation is that we are simply obeying the court order.

The court said with immediate effect, we should issue him certificate of return, and that is what we have done. If tomorrow court orders that we issue the certificate to another person we will obey. “By the grace of God, I am the INEC commissioner in charge of South-East, I will do the same thing if court orders us to do so. In this case, court ordered us to issue certificate of return to the person who won the election, and that is Uchechukwu Ogah.

“I was the person who issued certificate of return to Governor Ikpeazu because he was declared winner, now the court is saying otherwise. “One thing is that, we are not above the law and we can only obey the law of the land. After the court, another person we can obey is God, and my conscience is my God,” Nnwuruku added. Describing the court judgement as “wonderful” and “direct”, the commissioner said Ikpeazu did not serve INEC the notice of his appeal. But, the Attorney General of Abia State and Commissioner for Justice, Chief Umeh Kalu, said that the commission lied on the non-service of the notice of appeal. Umeh said INEC was properly served.

“A proof of service has shown that the commission did, indeed, receive the two important documents and it was signed for by Saleh N. Ibrahim, Senior Clerical Officer at the Legal Services Department of the Commission’s Headquarters, Abuja, who stamped the Notice of Appeal and Injunction with the commission’s official stamp by 12:50p.m. on Wednesday, June 29.

“It is rather surprising that the commission could lend itself to be used for an act capable of destabilising a state in Nigeria with the attendant consequences for anarchy and breakdown of law and order,” Kalu said. Meanwhile, Ikpeazu has obtained a court injunction restraining the Abia State Chief Judge from swearing-in Ogah.

In a suit number HOS/52/2016 of Thursday, June 30, between Okezie Ikpeazu as claimant/applicant and Dr. Sampson Uchechukwu Ogah, INEC and Abia State Chief Judge as respondents, the court presided over by Justice C. H. Ahuchaogu held “that an order of injunction is hereby made restraining the 2nd Defendant from issuing a certificate of return to the 2nd Defendant while the claimant remains in office in accordance with section 143 (1) and (2) of the Electoral Act 2010, (as amended) and pending the determination of the motion on Notice.

“It is further ordered that the 3rd Defendant or any other judge of the court or any judicial officer is hereby restrained from swearing-in the 1st Defendant while the claimant remains in office in accordance with section 143 (1) and (2) of the Electoral Act 2010 as amended.”

Ikpeazu had earlier, in a statement, appealed to the people to remain calm and law abiding, saying he still remained the governor. He said that he was aware of the “report of the purported issuance of certificate of return to Mr. Uche Ogah by INEC as governor of Abia State, despite pendency of a notice of appeal and motion for stay of the orders made by Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court, Abuja.”

He urged Abians to be “law abiding in the face of this provocation,” until the matter is resolved at the appellant court. Briefing journalists on the matter, the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Dr. Eme Okoro and the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Bonnie Iwuoha, corroborated the court injunction and announced two days public holiday on July 1st and Monday, July 4th to mourn the passing on of Chief Ojo Maduekwe, whose demise they described as a great loss to the state and deserved the honour.