The tension in Abia State today is so high that you can cut with knife as the apex court in Nigeria gives judgement over the legal tussle over the governorship seat of the state.
The case was filed by Uche Ogah who is accusing Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of allegedly submitting false tax information to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Ikpeazu defeated Ogah in the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, primaries ahead of the 2015 gubernatorial election in the state.
Justice Okon Abang of a Federal High Court in Abuja had on June 27, 2016 sacked Ikpeazu from office as governor of Abia State, after the court found him guilty of tax offences. Abang ordered Ikpeazu to vacate office for Ogah, who challenged Ikpeazu’s eligibility to contest the 2015 governorship election as the flag bearer of the PDP.
In August, 2016, the Court of Appeal affirmed the election of Ikpeazu and quashed the judgment of Justice Abang, calling her decision a rape of democracy, and ordered Ikpeazu to retain his office.
Subsequently, Ogah approached the Supreme Court where he prayed that the High Court judgement should be upheld.
