Abia State Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, on Thursday expressed joy over his
victory at the Court of Appeal, Abuja, saying that he had been spurred to
do more.
Ikpeazu, who said this while addressing newsmen at the Government House,
Umuahia, said the victory reinvigorated him to serve the people with
greater zeal.
He thanked God for the victory, saying that he dedicated the victory to
the people of the state.
He also expressed gratitude to the judiciary which, he said, had proved to
be the hope of the common man.
Without the judiciary of this country, what would have been the fate of
the poor son of a teacher, who became governor at the mercy of God and
people of Abia.
“The news before of us is a wonderful one and we are grateful to God for
what He has done that our mandate has once again been affirmed by the
Court of Appeal.
“This to us is a victory for the common people of Abia, who voted
massively for us in 2015,” he said.
He said that with the judgment he had been “re-invigorated in our service
to Ndi-Abia without letting them down”.
Ikpeazu thanked the people for their support and steadfastness in prayer
for his victory and urged them not to rest on their oars.
“The gains this country has achieved in terms of our democratic experience
is too much for us to toy with.
“We can recover from our economic problems but we may never recover if we
drawback on our gains in democratic governance,” he said.
The Court of Appeal affirmed the election of Ikpeazu and quashed the June
26 judgment of Justice Okon Abang of the Abuja High Court.
Abang had ordered Ikpeazu to vacate office for Dr. Uche Ogah, who
challenged Ikpeazu’s eligibility to contest the 2015 governorship election
as the flag bearer of the Peoples’ Democratic Party.
Following the judgment of the High Court for the immediate inauguration of
Ogah as Abia governor, the Independent National Electoral Commission,
issued him with the Certificate of Return.
NAN