Alex Otti Should Be Declared Governor Not Ogah – APGA

The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Abia State chapter, has raised an objection to the court ruling that declared Dr Uche Ogah, first runner up in the 2014 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship primaries in the state, as replacement for Governor Okezie Ikpeazu.

While applauding the court decision, it said its candidate, Dr. Alex Otti, should be declared the duly elected governor of the state to replace Ikpeazu.
It would be recalled that Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court, Abuja, had last week Monday sacked Ikpeazu as governor of the state over tax evasion and ordered the Independent Elector*l Commission (INEC) to issue certificate of return to Ogah which was done.
Reacting to the ruling in a statement by Rev. Augustine Ehiemere, its state Chairman, APGA called for the declaration of its candidate in the election, Dr. Alex Otti, as the duly elected governor of the state.
According to Ehimere, the court’s decision to sack Ikpeazu was a welcome decision, but should not have declared Ogah as governor because he did not participate in the governorship election on April 2015.

Ehimere said, “We humbly disagree with the consequential order by the court which directed for the swearing in of Dr. Uche Ogah as the governor. This order, which we consider as a huge error, is not only unacceptable to APGA, but also untenable in Nigeria’s 2010 Elector*l Act as amended, which forbids any person that did not take part in all the stages of an election from being declared winner.
“Since there was no record anywhere to show that Dr. Uche Ogah won the primaries of his party, the PDP, let alone partook in all the stages of the last governorship election in Abia State, his declaration as the governor by the court was strange and alien to the law.
“Our humble demand is that the appellate court, while upholding the Ikpeazu guilty verdict, should correct this huge error by issuing the right order, which is to declare the candidate that scored the highest lawful votes, Dr Alex Otti (APGA) as the governor.”