THE recent Court of Appeal judgment which sacked
Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of the PDP and declared Dr. Alex Otti of APGA
winner of the April 2015 governorship election may have altered the
political equation of Abia State.
By Anayo Okoli
Though the matter is still pending at the Supreme Court, Abia
politics will never again be the same, where only one political party
holds sway and dictates the pace with impunity. 2015 elections, where
the ruling PDP faced uphill task to win votes was a pointer to that.
Since the advent of the present democratic system in 1999, the PDP
has held sway in Abia State. Expect for four years, between 2007 and
2010, when former Governor of the State, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu had
disagreement with the leadership of the party and broke away to form the
Progressive Peoples Party [PPA] through which he installed his
successor, Chief Theodore Orji, now a senator.
Senator Orji returned the State back to PDP following a disagreement he had with his then political godfather, Kalu.
In the run-up to the 2015 general elections Dr. Alex Otti, who
resigned from Diamond Bank, as the group managing director, to actualise
his ambition of becoming the governor of the state on the platform of
the PDP, however, left the party to join the All Progressive Grand
Alliance (APGA).
In APGA, he also faced a lot of intrigues as Ochiagha Reagan Ufomba
who flew the party’s flag in 2011 and had led the party since his failed
2011 aspiration resisted him. But Otti was backed by the then National
Chairman of the party, Chief Victor Umeh who Ufomba accused of imposing
Otti on the party. Ikpeazu and Otti
However, after series of court cases, Umeh and Otti emerged
victorious, clearing the way for Otti to fly the APGA flag in the
governorship election. Otti’s entry into the governorship race promptly
and drastically changed the politics of Abia as he gave the ruling party
a very good fight.
He ran a massive campaign, matching PDP ward for ward, and constituency for constituency tour throughout the period of campaign.
In the most impressive showing for a party not controlling the state
government since the return of democratic rule, APGA came out of the
elections with 11 of the 24 seats in the State House of Assembly.
Remarkably, the party did poorly in the federal level elections as it
won only one House of Representatives seat and no Senate seat, a
development that was linked to the fact that the party really did not
have much to gain being that it did not have a presidential candidate.
However, the presence of Otti on the ballot in the state level
elections shook the state to the foundations in the governorship and
state legislative elections.
First ballot
Indeed, the governorship election did not produce a winner at the
first ballot. Rather the first ballot witnessed series of controversies
over the votes from parts of the State, particularly the three Local
Government Councils of Isiala Ngwa North, Osisioma and Obingwa.
The two parties disputed the votes scored in the areas, leading to
the initial cancellation and reversal of the cancellation of the results
by the electoral officers.
Willy-nilly as no clear winner emerged at the first ballot, it
prompted supplementary elections in some parts of the State after which
Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu was declared winner by INEC and later sworn-in as
governor.
Not surprisingly, Otti headed to the tribunal which dismissed his
petition and undeterred, he approached the Court of Appeal which on
December 31st 2015 in its judgment sacked Ikpeazu as the governor and
declared Otti the winner.
Governor Ikpeazu, of course was not satisfied with the judgment and
has gone to the Supreme Court to test if it passed all legal
requirements.
The judgment has no doubt unsettled the camps of the two political
parties, PDP and APGA, and has energised political permutations in the
State at least for now.
Political permutations
The judgment, delivered by Justice Oyebisi Omoleye and concurred by
four other Justices of the Court of Appeal, Owerri Division, threw PDP
and Governor Ikpeazu’s supporters into confusion.
It was a judgment they never expected. Though he has appealed the
decision, the governor is undoubtedly saddled with a great deal of
distraction in the business of governance as he is now busy fighting the
legal battle of his life.
In any case, the current political trend in the State may not be a
big surprise to Abia political watchers, particularly those who followed
the 2015 governorship election in the State. Mired in controversies,
allegations and counter allegations, the 2015 Abia governorship
election, was capable of throwing up anything. Everybody, including the
ruling PDP knows that anything could happen at the Courts because of
the fierce rivalry between the two parties and series of protests from
both parties during the election.
Series of protests
For now the two major political parties are back to the legal
chessboard at the Supreme Court which will give the final judgment on
the issue.
Meanwhile, the State has remained tense with series of protests by
the parties. Though it did not degenerate to any untoward development,
there has been alarm raised by chieftains of the two political parties
over threats to life.
An APGA chieftain, Chief Ahamdi Nweke who was the star witness in
APGA petition at the tribunal was said to have alleged that PDP
followers at a meeting plotted to kill him. He was alleged to have named
a high profile commissioner in the state as his chief suspect.
Perhaps on the strength of the allegation, security operatives raided
the home of the commissioner in search of arms. The transition chairman
of Isiala Ngwa North council, Mr. Ginger Onwusibe also alleged that his
house was raided by security operatives.
From all indications, the tense political atmosphere in the State
will remain until the Supreme Court finally settles the matter.
But the prayer of every patriotic Abian is that the situation does
degenerate to any crisis but remain like usual barking of politicians.
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