Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State has assured Abians that he remains the governor of the state.
This is contrary to the rumour making rounds that the Appeal court sitting in Owerri which upturned Ikpeazu’s victory had ordered his opponent, Dr. Alex Otti of All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA to be sworn in as the winner of the election.
Ikpeazu in a statement said:” I remain the Governor of Abia State until the Supreme Court reaffirms my mandate which was freely given to me by the good people of Abia State during the elections”.
The governor said that the preliminary reports available to him indicated that the premise upon which the decision of the Court of Appeal was arrived at is at best tenuous.
He continued:”That being said, I wish to express my utmost confidence in the ability of the Justices of the Supreme Court to correct the anomaly at the Court of Appeal and uphold my victory as had been earlier done by the Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Umuahia.
“In the interim, while I have instructed my Lawyers to take steps to file an immediate Appeal at the Supreme Court, I wish to assure all Abians that all is well. I remain the Governor of Abia State until the Supreme Court reaffirms my mandate which was freely given to me by the good people of Abia State during the elections”.
He called on the security agencies to maintain the peace in Abia State and ensure that people go about their legitimate businesses without fear of disruption from any quarters.
While calling on his supporters to remain calm in the face of provocation, he expressed confidence that at the end of the day,” victory shall be ours”.
