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Tag: Ikpeazu

  • ‘Appeal won’t distract Ikpeazu’

    ‘Appeal won’t distract Ikpeazu’

    Mr Ben Onyechere, a former Special Assistant to Second Republic Vice President Alex Ekwueme, yesterday dismissed what he called concerns that Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu is distracted by the pending appeal against the judgment which ordered his removal.

    He said those plotting the governor’s removal would fail.

    “The conspiracy, which is doomed to fail, is nothing but a move to cast a spell on the 2019 election with the view to attract attention.

    “It is reminiscent of the movement of Israelites out of Egypt, led by modern-day Moses in person of Ikpeazu; and just when the Israelites were on the verge of crossing the sea, Pharaoh rose to bring them back to captivity and, alas, he drowned with his chariots in the sea,” Onyechere said.

    In a statement, Onyechere, who is the President of Igbo Question Movement (IQM), said Ikpeazu was committed to delivering on his mandate.

    He said: “Ikpeazu, whom I have known from school at Maiduguri under the tutelage of Prof Jubril Aminu, is achievement-oriented and was acknowledged as the most brilliant lgbo student then.

    “Governor ikpeazu is an instrument of deliverance and was fortified for divine purposes of recreating the political landmark of Abia and liberating his people from an age-long political bondage.

    “The people cannot be deceived because the issue of tax or no tax is immaterial to the plot of denying the state in its entirety of a well deserved balance of power in the political calculus.

    “The Judiciary, which can willfully be adjudged to have crossed the Rubicon of excellence cannot be smeared by a miscarriage of justice.”

  • Appeal Court reserves verdict in Ikpeazu, Ogah case

    Appeal Court reserves verdict in Ikpeazu, Ogah case

    The Court of Appeal, Abuja division yesterday reserved judgments in six appeals filed against two judgments of the Federal High Court, Abuja sacking Governor Victor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State.

    Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court, Abuja in his June 27 judgment on suits filed by Samson Ogah and Obasi Ekeagbala, voided Ikpeazu’s election because he made false claims in his tax information submitted to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) preparatory to its December 8, 2014 primary.

    The appellate court reserved judgments after the parties made their final submissions and adopted their briefs of argument.

    The appeals included three filed by Ikpeazu marked: CA/A/390/2016, CA/A/ 390D and CA/A/406/2016

    There were two appeals by the PDP marked; CA/A/390A and CA/A/406A and the one marked: CA/A/390B by Friday Nwosu, a PDP governorship aspirant, who came fifth in the primary. His suit against Ikpeazu was dismissed by the Federal High Court in Umuahia for failure to prove the allegation of forgery on which he premised his case.

    Ikpeazu, represented by a team of 37 lawyers including eight Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN), led by Chief Wole Olanipekun  faulted Justice Abang’s  judgments. He urged the court to allow his appeals and set aside the judgments.

    In the appeal marked: CA/A/390D/2016, Ikpeazu urged the court to set aside the post-judgement ruling by Justice Abang, in which he held among others that a trial court could still exercise jurisdiction in a case after an appeal against its final judgment had been entered at the Court of Appeal and record of appeal compiled.

    The judge had declined to stay action on the case on being informed by Olanipekun that his client’s appeals against his judgments had been entered, given an appeal number and record of appeal transmitted to the appeal court.

    Justice Abang, in the ruling, held that Order 4 Rule 11 of the Court of Appeal Rules cited by Olanipekun was only applicable in interlocutory judgments, noting that in the case of a final judgement, there was nothing left to be preserved by asking the trial court to stay action.

    Yesterday, Olanpekun urged the court to make a definite pronouncement on the issue, noting that Justice Abang, by his ruling, has attempted to alter the long held tradition of the court that once  an appeal is entered at a court of higher jurisdiction, the lower court ceases to exercise jurisdiction.

    The two appeals by the PDP were against the judgments of the Federal High Court. Represented by a team of lawyers including Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN), Joseph Nwobike (SAN) and Paul Ananaba (SAN), the party faulted the trial court’s reasons for voiding Ikpeazu’s election and ordering the issuance of certificate of return to Ogah.

    Ikpeazu, who led the legal team, adopted his client’s briefs of arguments on both appeals and their responses to some of the other appeals. He argued that the conclusion of the trial court was wrong because the possession of tax receipts do not form the basis of qualification or disqualification under Sections 177 and 182 of the Constitution.

    Ikpeazu  urged the court to allow the PDP appeals and set aside the judgments of the lower court.

    Adopting Nwosu’s briefs of argument, his lawyer, J. C. Idoko urged the court to set aside the judgement in Ogah’s case because that it was based on abuse of court process. He said Ogah abused court  process when he filed the suit at the trial court when a  similar one had been  filed by his client, with Ogah as a party.

    Idoko urged the court to set aside the judgment and allow his client’s appeal, including making Nwosu the governor of Abia State having disqualified Ikpeazu and Ogah.

    Ogah equally paraded a team of lawyers, which included Alex Iziyon (SAN), Dipo Okpeseyi (SAN) and Femi Falana (SAN). Iziyon, who spoke for the team, urged the court to dismiss all the appeals.

    On Ikpeazu’s  appeals, Iziyon argued that justice Abang was right when it held that the governor was not qualified to stand for election having breached the provision of his party’s guidelines.

    He insisted that his client’s case was not based on forgery, but on false information, which Ikpeazu submitted to his party to contest its primary, and which the party included in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Form CF001.

    Iziyon, who urged the court to also dismiss PDP’s appeals, wondered why it was uncomfortable with the lower court’s judgments, having admitted in one of its affidavits that it erroneously included the false tax documents in the Form CF 001.

    He described Nwosu’s appeal as frivolous, noting that the appellant, against who no reliefs were made in the judgments by the lower court, has no reason to query the judgments. He wondered how Nwosu, who came fifth in the primary, would want to be made a governor.

  • Ikpeazu seeks halt to solidarity visits on governorship impasse

    Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu has called for a stop to solidarity visits to him, following a court declaration of Dr Uche Ogah as the governor.

    The governor urged Abia State residents to live in peace and focus more on developmental issues.

    In a statement at the weekend by his Chief Press Secretary, Enyinnaya Appolos, the governor said he had been overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and solidarity, following the court verdict.

    The statement reads: “I wish to thank Abians for the massive and unprecedented outpouring of love and solidarity from all segments of the society to me since the attempted coup against my government by desperate power seekers.

    “I am particularly grateful to those who prayed for me, paid solidarity visits and called to express support to me and my government. I pray that the Almighty God, who alone richly rewards and answers all good prayers, reward and answer your fervent prayers, in Jesus name.”

    Ikpeazu enjoins Abiam residents and friends to continue praying for him and his government.

    The governor, who prayed for the wisdom of Solomon, quoted from 1King 3:9, asking: “Who is able to govern this great people” of God without Him?

    The statement added: “I have taken note of the cost and risk of Abians who mobilise to Umuahia (the state capital) to pay solidarity visits to me, almost on daily basis, and wish to underline the fact that their sacrifices are well appreciated.”

    Ikpeazu pledged to serve Abia residents better and take decisions that would enhance the wellbeing of the people.

    The governor advised the residents to perform their daily pursuits and stop further solidarity visits on the governorship impasse.

    rule of law and stopping corrupt individuals from using illegally acquired wealth to buy immunity from prosecution through the backdoor.

    He said his administration would always support the war against corruption because he was convinced that corruption was antithetical to peace and development.

    Ikpeazu advised his political opponents and those interested in Abia development to join hands with his administration to ensure its progress.

     

  • Ikpeazu to investors: Your investments safe in Abia

    Ikpeazu to investors: Your investments safe in Abia

    The governor of Abia State, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu has reassured investors that the state is safe for investors, saying his administration has provided enabling environment for businesses to thrive in the state.

    Ikpeazu said that the sole aim of the present administration in the state is to ensure that the required enabling environments are provided for investors to operate in the state with the mind to create more jobs and increase revenue generation.

    Speaking in Umuahia during the commissioning ceremony of the regional office of Platinum Mortgage Bank Ltd, Ikpeazu said that he was motivated to ensure the provision of security at all levels because an unsafe state cannot attract investment.

    The governor said, “We have been vindicated with the recent release by the United States of America, as our state is not among the twenty states in the country listed as unsafe to travel to because of security challenges.”

    Ikpeazu said that he will give the sum of N1 million to ten civil servants from grade level 1-7 who will emerge successful during a lucky dip which will be done by the bank to enable them commence the payment of the mortgage for their houses.

    He said that the same gesture would be extended to ten widows from across the three senatorial districts of the state, stressing that it will help them to afford befitting houses for their children.

    The governor said that the lucky dip, which would be done for the widows would be done without any help from him or any of his aides, stressing that they must emerge from a transparent method that is devoid of fraud.

    He commended the Managing Director of Platinum Mortgage Bank Ltd, Emmanuel Mbaka, for investing at home, and assured him of the state government’s support.

    Speaking earlier, Mbaka said that the bank will make funds available to people seeking for mortgage to build their homes.

  • Igbo group to Ikpeazu: quit within seven days or we’ll occupy Abia Govt House

    Igbo group to Ikpeazu: quit within seven days or we’ll occupy Abia Govt House

    An Igbo pressure group, under the aegis of Ndigbo Buotu Union, has given Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State seven days to vacate his seat over tax return controversy involving the governor.

    The group vowed to occupy the Abia State Government House if the governor refused to heed the call. A Federal High Court in Abuja had sacked Ikpeazu for tax default.

    The court had ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to withdraw the governor’s certificate of return and issue same to his rival, Mr. Uche Ogah.

    But Ikpeazu has continued to seek legal reprieve in the various courts to overturn the ruling.

    Speaking in a statement made available to journalists in Abuja on Friday, the National President of Ndigbo Buotu, Igwekala Ugomaduefule, said that Governor Ikpeazu lacked the moral right to continue in office because of the severity of the allegations against him.

    Ugomaduefule declared that the entire Igbo nation is scandalized that the governor is using all sorts or subterfuge to hang on to office.

    The statement said: “Since the issue of tax evasion by the outgoing governor of Abia State, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu became public knowledge, the people of Abia State, the Igbo nation and indeed all Nigerians have been keenly following the development in court because of the severity of the alleged offence.

    “At every point and turn, the governor engaged all manners of delay tactics and subterfuge to stop the case, including going to the Supreme Court to ensure the case does not see the light of the day.

    “However, all the rigmarole on the tax evasion case instituted against outgoing Governor Ikpeazu came to a halt on Monday, June 27, 2016, following the ruling by the Federal High Court, Abuja, presided over by Justice Okon Abang, which found him culpable of tax evasion and consequently kicked him out of office.

    “The court also ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to issue a certificate of return to Dr. Uche Samson Ogah, who came second in the PDP primary.

    “We, members of Ndigbo Buofuobi , like other Nigerians, had expected the governor to take the path of honour, apologize for his misdeed and immediately quit office for Dr. Uche Samson Ogah as ordered by the High Court.

    “Rather than do the honourable thing, Governor Ikpeazu has been brazenly talking tough and refusing to quit office.

     “We find this very irritating, morally questionable and politically incorrect for a man that should cover his face in shame is all over the media boasting that he will not respect the court ruling.

    “We want to use this opportunity to call on the national leadership of the PDP to call Governor Ikpeazu to order and prevail on him to respect the ruling of the court instead of exposing the party to more public ridicule after the damage he did to the image of the party by tax evasion.

    “PDP leaders should also learn from this sad incident and ensure that in future, all aspirants for every position are scrupulously screened before the primaries to ensure this ugly development does not repeat itself in future.

    “Luckily for the PDP, the court had ruled that the person that came second during the party primaries should immediately take over the mandate given to the party during the 2015 governorship election.

    “The party is bigger than Governor Ikpeazu and we members of Ndigbo Buotu Union demand that he should not be to continue to ridicule the judiciary, the office of the governor and the PDP which sponsored his election.

    “We are therefore giving outgoing Governor Ikpeazu seven days notice effective from Friday, July 15th, 2016 to quit office or else was shall be left with no option than to mobilize the youths to occupy the vicinity of Government House, Aba, till further notice.”

    Reacting to the threat, the state Commissioner for Information, Bonnie Iwuoha, dismissed it as a mere joke, adding that anybody that tries  such will have himself to blame.

    He said: “Nobody born of a woman will ever try such.  The threat is laughable because the security operatives are fully on the ground to deal with anybody that attempts to foment trouble. So, whoever tries such will live to regret it.

    “Besides the security agents, the people of Abia are battle-ready for whoever is out to cause any breakdown of law and order in the state. The people have been seriously enraged by the development in the state, but the governor, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu has been the one appealing to them to be clam.

    “It is in the best interest of those planning such to wait for the court decision instead of  planning to take an illegal action that will consume them.”

  • My mandate is divine, says Ikpeazu

    My mandate is divine, says Ikpeazu

    Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu yesterday said his mandate is divine from God.

    He said nobody could remove him from office.

    Ikpeazu’s election was declared null and void last week by a Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja.

    The court said he submitted incorrect tax certificates to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to contest the party’s primary.

    Justice Okon Abang ruled that Ikpeazu was not qualified, for that reason, to have been given the party’s ticket.

    The judge ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to issue a Certificate of Return to the plaintiff, Dr. Uche Ogah, who came second in the primary.

    But the governor has appealed the judgment.

    Ikpeazu yesterday received a team from Nzuko Ohanaeze Ukwa/Ngwa on a solidarity visit to the Government House in Umuahia.

    The governor said the people should not worry for him because the battle had been taken before God.

    Ikpeazu said he was optimistic that God would fight the battle for him, pleading with them not to take up arms against anybody to avoid having casualties.

    According to him, if it were to be a case of who has more money, his opponents would have taken over the state seat of power.

    The governor maintained that the position was not up for sale to a moneybag.

    He urged the people to continue in their prayers for him, adding: “It is not a battle against me; it is a battle against the Office of the Governor, which I occupy by the grace of God.

    “The coup d’état, which some desperate people from within and outside the state planned against the state and which failed to materialise five days ago, has become public knowledge. So, it will never succeed.”

    Leader of the delegation, Elder Emma Adaelu, said they were with the governor to show their solidarity.

  • Ikpeazu: The incontrovertible truth

    Wonders are many, and none is more wonderful than man, so said Sophocles, Athenian dramatist. In the same manner, French author, Emile Zolo propounded that if you shut up truth and bury it underground, it will but grow and gather to itself such explosive power that the day it bursts through, it will blow up everything in its way.

    Nigerians are transfixed in shock as events unfold in the macabre drama playing out with respect to the office of Governor of Abia State. On Monday June 27, a Federal High Court presided over by the Hon. Justice OkonAbang, purported to sack the sitting Governor of Abia State on the grounds that he did not collect his tax receipts for 2011, 2012 and 2013 as and when due.

    The offence of Ikpeazu, according to the Federal High Court Judge, was that he waited until 2014 when he needed the tax receipts to apply for them. When officials of the Abia State Board of Internal Revenue acted on Ikpeazu’s request therefore, they wrote the receipts for the three years in question on the same day and from the same booklet being used to write taxes for 2014. This same practice affects most civil and public servants in Nigeria, this writer inclusive. It is common knowledge that most of those who ask for their tax clearance certificates regularly are contractors and other business men and women who require them for transactions.

    For emphasis, Okezie Victor Ikpeazu paid his taxes for 2011, 2012 and 2013 as and when due; it was the receipts for the taxes which were written in 2014. On this ground, Justice Abang accused the governor of fraud and declared his seat vacant. This is unprecedented in the electoral history of Nigeria. In the annals of conspiracies to unlawfully and illegally rob an elected official of a victory he won at the polls in Nigeria, this tops it; this qualifies as the heist of the century.

    When F.N. Nwosu who scored five votes and Uchechukwu Samson Ogah who scored 103 votes to Ikpeazu’s 487 votes at the PDP primaries in 2014 went to court on issues bordering on tax documents, no one took the two cases seriously, for many reasons. First, is that it is impossible for Dr.Ikpeazu not to have paid his taxes for the years in question when he was an employee of the Abia State Passengers Integrated Manifest Scheme (ASPIMS) and later the Abia State Environmental Protection Agency (ASEPA) where he was General Manager and Deputy General Manager respectively. He was a civil/public servant for those years. As such he was a PAYEE (Pay As You Earn Employee). PAYEEs are a special breed. They pay their taxes every month as they receive their salaries unlike many others who pay yearly; even that is not entirely accurate. It is more accurate to say that their taxes are deducted and remitted to the tax authorities automatically every month even before they see their salaries, in fact, they have no choice in the matter. They are not responsible for the assessment, deduction or remittance of their taxes. They only get to know what they pay as taxes when they receive their pay-slips and look at the column where it has been deducted.

    When it comes to paying taxes, payees are the salt of the earth as they are the most compliant. No payee is given his receipts for taxes paid every month it is deducted, neither is it given at the end of every tax year which ends on December 31 of each year. Some payees spend all their years in employment, which in the case of civil servants is 35 years, without once seeing their tax receipts.

    Many never have need of it and never apply to the tax authorities for it. But if they need their tax receipts for any reasons, they then apply to the tax authorities who will call for their records from the appropriate agencies and from those records, compute and generate the figures which will now be entered in a receipt and given to the payee. The payee has no role, contribution or input in this process. He has no input in the deduction and remittance of his taxes, so the records also do not have his input nor are they in his possession.

    When the tax authorities call for the records and extract what they want from it in order to write his receipts, he is also not involved or even present. The role of a payee in the matter of tax receipts are only two: (1) to apply to tax authorities for it and (2) to collect it when it is ready. That is all Ikpeazu did in this instance and yet he is accused of forging a document he did not make.

    The strategy of calling a dog a bad name in order to hang it in Nigeria, is most unfortunate and regrettable. Once a public official is accused of forgery, no matter how unfounded and without merit the accusation is, people go to town shouting “forgery”; majority do not pause, take a breath and examine the allegations to determine its merit. Most citizens are just too anxious to believe the very worst for their elected officials and are not ready to afford them any benefit of doubts whatsoever. In this case, Ikpeazu is accused of making false entries in a document he was not even present when it was made. The Abia State Board of Internal Revenue (BIR) which wrote the receipts, signed, sealed it and delivered to Ikpeazu, deposed to an affidavit through its officials, explaining the process and procedures followed by them but the honourable judge ignored them. The process of writing tax receipts is not rocket science and even common sense, which no longer seems to be quite so common these days, makes it easy to understand that the allegations against Ikpeazu are at best spurious, unfounded and entirely without merit.

    For instance, his traducers complain about the receipts for his taxes in 2011, 2012 and 2013 because they were “all paid” in 2014 and the serial numbers on the receipts show they are from the same booklet. They said the receipt for 2013 was written before that for 2012 was written. They equally said that in one of the receipts, December 31 of that year fell on a Saturday, a non-working day. Another claim was that for 2011 when he started his employment with ASPIMS mid-year, he paid more taxes than his six months’ salary for that year could account for. That they called fraud.  They also blamed it on Ikpeazu. This amounts to sheer ignorance. If a tax official is writing tax receipts for taxes already paid in previous years, he will write it on the booklet for the current year starting from where he stopped for the last receipt written. He will not start looking for booklets used in previous years. He does not need to write them serially or in any order.

    The receipts for three years or even 20 years of tax already paid previously can be issued in one day and does not amount to fraud. Every tax year ends on December 31 and is so denoted on tax receipts; the fact that for any one year, December 31 ends on a Saturday or Sunday is moot. With respect to 2011, when Ikpeazu was under PAYEE for only six months, the tax officials will also take into account his earnings for the previous six months when he was not yet in the employment of ASPIMS to determine his assessable income for the ENTIRE year; the tax paid by Ikpeazu in 2011 was for his earnings for the whole of that year not only for the six months he was a PAYEE, so, to say that he paid more tax than his income for six months could accommodate sounds unreasonable.

    Ikpeazu deserves high commendation for surrendering tax that accrued to government from private incomes he made before he joined government employment contrary to most other people who would have denied earning anything at all during the said period. Tax receipts are issued for a year and not in fractions of a year or monthly. A tax official who is writing tax receipts does not know and would not care anyway what the receipts are being used for: whether for purpose of elections, Land Registry transactions, or just for the mere records of the tax payer, etc; he will merely follow established tax protocols. How any perceived error in the actions of a tax official, assuming for purposes of arguments, there exists any, can be blamed on the tax payer really beats the imagination. In this particular case, it is unprecedented for a sitting governor to be accused of forgery and fraud in respect of a document he did not make, had no input into its contents and on this contrived and trumped up grounds, invalidated his election.

    This is a clear assault on our collective national efforts towards achieving egalitarianism and respect for the will of the people in electing their leaders. Nigerians should be worried. Every sane mind and lover of peace, should rise up and resist this attempt by some fraudulent people to set our hard earned democracy ablaze.

     

    • Comrade Iwuoha, is the Commissioner for Information, Culture & Strategy, Abia State.
  • Abia: Ikpeazu raises 50 grounds of appeal

    Abia: Ikpeazu raises 50 grounds of appeal

    •I’m not desperate, says Ogah

    Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu has raised 50 grounds on which he is seeking the Court of Appeal’s reversal of his removal from office for tax certificate discrepancies.

    Justice Okon Abang on June 27, ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately issue a Certificate of Return to Dr. Uche Ogah, who polled the second highest number of votes in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) primary election.

    In his July 4 notice of appeal, Dr. Ikpeazu, through his counsel, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), raised 50 grounds of appeal and expressed dissatisfaction with the decision of the lower court.

    The respondents are: Dr. Sampson Uchechukwu Ogah(1st); Peoples Democratic Party( 2nd); the Independent National Electoral Commission (3th); and Mr.  Friday Nwanozie Nwosu (4th)..

    His first ground of appeal is that the trial judge erred in law and came to a wrong decision in holding that the appellant was ineligible to participate in the primary election of the 2nd respondent by reason of presenting false information to the 3rd respondent in INEC Form CF001 and consequently granting all the reliefs claimed by the 1st respondent in his originating summons.

    According to the second ground of appeal, the lower court equally erred in law and reached a perverse decision when after finding thus:  “The cause of action arose in this matter when the 1st and 2nd defendants forwarded Form CF001 containing alleged false information to the Independent National Electoral Commission”. It went ahead to disqualify the appellant from being a candidate at the 2nd respondent’s primary election and declared the 1st respondent as the winner of the primary election.

    On his third ground of appeal, Dr. Ikpeazu noted that the lower court erred in law and acted without jurisdiction when it purported to enforce/apply the provisions of the PDP Electoral Guidelines for primary elections 32014 in determining the originating summons before it without the PDP Guidelines being put in evidence before it.

    In his fourth ground of appeal, Ikepazu pointed out that the lower court also erred in law and reached a perverse decision when it held in respect of the Supreme Court decision in Ekagbara v, Ikpeazu (2016) 4 NWLR (pt. 1503) 541 thus: “In fact in the above cited case, Supreme Court in a way departed from its earlier decision in Kharki v. PDP… Supreme Court also held that this court has jurisdiction to entertain a suit questioning the qualification of an aspirant in a primary election by a fellow aspirant when the aspirant whose qualification is being questioned did not pay tax as at when due or where there are lapses in the tax paper of such aspirant… In Ekagbara v. Ikpeazu (supra), the Supreme Court also held that it does not really matter that this will involve the examination of tax administration in Abia State of Nigeria.”

    In his fifth ground of appeal, the appellant observed that trial judge erred in law and came to a perverse decision when he asked thus: “It is either that the information are false or correct, I do not think it is a case of forgery. I do not think facts are in dispute. Even if the affidavits of the parties are in dispute, they are not in my view in dispute on material facts… It is for the 1st to 2nd defendants to show that the information contained in documents attached to Form CF001 submitted to Independent National Electoral Commission are not false … I think the court can conveniently use the affidavit evidence placed before it to resolve issues in controversy. This suit was properly commenced by an originating summon”.

    In the seventeenth ground of appeal, Ikpeazu observed that the lower court misdirected itself and reached a perverse decision when it held that the appellant presented false information to INEC by reason of the alleged differences between the tax receipts and the tax certificate with respect to the tax return 2013.

    According to the last ground of appeal, Ikpeazu stressed that the decision of the lower court was/is against the weight of evidence, and therefore sought the following relief from the Court of Appeal, the first being, an order allowing this appeal. The second, an order setting aside all the main and consequential orders made and granted by the lower court and the last, an order dismissing or striking out the amended originating summons in suit no. FHC/ABJ/CS/71/2016.

  • Abia logjam stays as court rejects Ikpeazu’s request

    Abia logjam stays as court rejects Ikpeazu’s request

    A Federal High Court in Abuja has rejected the request by Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu to set aside the enrolled orders on its June 27 judgment on the state’s governorship seat.

    Following the June 27 judgement by Justice Okon Abang, an enrolment of the judgment orders was served on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on which basis it relied in issuing Certificate of Return to Dr. Uche Ogah.

    Ikpeazu’s lawyer Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) yesterday urged the court to set aside the enrolled orders, arguing that it formed the basis of the confusion created by INEC’s action.

    Olanipekun, in his counter-response, accused INEC and Ogah of resorting to self-help.

    He argued that there was no justification for presenting the certificate of return to Ogah on June 30 after INEC had received the notice of appeal and the motion for stay of execution on June 28.

    He urged the court to set aside the enrolled order of the court issued with respect to the judgment served on INEC, which he said was the foundation of the “purported issuance of the certificate of return” to Ogah.

    He also asked the court to quash the certificate of return issued to Ogah by INEC.

    He said: “I urge your lordship to set aside the certificate of return purportedly issued by INEC on June 28 and handed over to the plaintiff/respondent on June 30 during the pendency of the processes before the Court of Appeal.”

    “Execution of judgment is not automatic as people think. The court is expected to give a time lag to the defendant/judgment debtor,” Olanipekun said.

    Justic Abang refused to set aside the enrolled court order, saying Section 19 of the Sheriff and Civil Processes Act, relied on by Olanipekun did not define processes to include the enrolled court order.

    Describing Olanipekun’s application for the voiding of the court’s enrolled order as lacking in merit, Justice Abang said the court had the power to enroll its order at any time after judgment had been delivered.

    Olanipekun then prayed the court to adjourn the hearing to a later date in his client’s application for stay of proceedings to enable him respond to the reply filed by Ogah’s lawyer, Alex Iziyon (SAN).

    Iziyon objected and urged the court to set aside the order of the Abia State High Court in Osisioma restraining the Chief Judge of the state from swearing in Ogah as governor, and reiterate the judgment of the court.

    Izinyon argued that by going ahead to obtain such an order from the Abia High Court without bringing it to the attention of Justice Abang on Monday, Ikpeazu had resorted to self-help.

    Izinyon asked the court to set aside the Abia State High Court’s order and reiterate the judgment since Ikpeazu’s motion for stay of execution had allegedly achieved essentially what the motion intended to achieve.

    “My lord, the question to ask borders on the integrity and the sanctity of this order obtained from the Abia State High Court and the application before this court now.

    “They are asking for a date when they have in their pocket a court order which has tied the hands of the plaintiff, preventing him from presenting himself for swearing in, contrary to the order of this court.

    “My lord, what is paramount here is that the applicant, Okezie Ikpeazu, went somewhere else to get this order from another high court.

    “We submit with respect that the applicant did not bring this to your lordship’s attention. They have not told your lordship that they went somewhere else to obtain the order.

    “Now that we have brought this to the attention of the court, our application is that your lordship will undo the act of the applicant by setting aside the order because it was made during the pendency of this application,” Iziyon said.

    INEC’s lawyer, Alhassan Umar justified his client’s decision to issue a certificate of return to Ogah despite the appeal filed by Ikpeazu.

    He argued that the mere filing of a notice of appeal by Ikpeazu could not operate as stay of proceedings to restrain INEC from executing an order of court duly served on it.

    ”We do not object to the application for adjournment.

    “The certificate of return was issued before we were served with the motion on June 28. We had issued the certificate upon being served with the order.

    “The certificate bears the date it was issued. We were served with the motion on June 28. But we had issued the certificate upon being served with the order.

    “By the issuance I meant it was signed on June 28, but the actual presentation of the certificate was on June 30.

    “My lord, we had no difficulty in issuing the certificate because election matters are suis generis (are in class of their own), and where the law intends that an appeal should operate as a stay, it is expressly stated so.”

     

     

    After listening to parties, Justice Abang elected to hear all pending applications, including Ikpeazu’ motion for stay of execution and Ogah’ motion to set aside the order by the Abia State High Court on Thursday.

    Ogah has appealed to his supporters to remain calm and awaiting the outcome of the pending issues before the court.

    Ogah, in a statement yesterday by his Special Adviser on Public Communications, Onyekachi Ubani, said: “As we enjoin the great people of Abia to remain calm and peaceful as we expect Justice to be done on the matter, Dr Ogah again reaffirms his belief in the rule of law.

     

  • AGF to Ikpeazu, Ogah: wait for courts’ decisions

    AGF to Ikpeazu, Ogah: wait for courts’ decisions

    Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu is to remain in office pending the outcome of his appeal against last week’s decision of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, which declared him ineligible for the Peoples  Democratic Party (PDP) ticket with which he contested last year’s general election.

    Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami (SAN) yesterday advised that all the parties should wait for the outcome of the appeal before any action is taken.

    Following Justice Okon Abang’s order, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in compliance with the “forthwith” order of the court, issued a certificate of return to Dr. Uchechukwu Ogah, the plaintiff favoured by the judgment, which found the governor guilty of tax certificate deficiencies.

    Ogah then proceeded to Umuahia to press for his swearing in but Chief Judge was unavailable, thereby creating a political stalemate in the state.

    The Attorney General distanced himself from the controversy in a statement yesterday by Salihu Isah, his media assistant. Malami, who advised parties to the crisis to await the final resolution of the dispute by the courts, said he was yet to offer any legal opinion on the issue because no one has sought his opinion.

    The AGF faulted insinuations that his office was prompted by the Federal Government to advise INEC to issue Ogah with a certificate of return.

    The statement said: “The attention of the office of the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice has been drawn to the insinuations and crass lies being peddled and disseminated by a cross-section of Nigerians and the various media platforms that the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation is behind the legal logjam over the Abia State governorship seat and wishes to clarify that those canvassing this position have no basis to do so.

    “Of particular concern are those who have peddled ill-natured rumours with a view to misinform our discerning populace that it was the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and, by extension, the Federal Government of Nigeria that gave directives to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to issue Certificate of Return to Dr. Uchechukwu Ogah declaring him governor-elect.

    “He has definitely not taken any action either by spoken words or body language as far as this Abia governorship crisis is concerned.

    “I wish to, therefore, on behalf of my principal, declare that these rumours are untrue and a figment of the imagination of those pushing these selfish, shameless and irredeemable lies into public space which only translates to partisanship on the side of its purveyors. ”As far as the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation is concerned, the constitutional powers for the legal opinion of his office have not been invoked on this issue. So far, nobody has approached him to proffer any legal opinion to it.

    “As a strong believer in the rule of law, it is his belief that the law should naturally take its cause. The Honourable Attorney General of the Federation will not be dragged into this controversy and mind-games being played out by the various legal minds and spin doctors of both camps at this point. The parties involved should await the decision of the courts.

    “In fact, we wish to by this statement advise those in the habit of dragging the highly esteemed office of the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice into knotty issues of this kind, even when it is yet to take a position, to desist from these unwarranted presumptions henceforth.”