Skip to main content

Tension Grips Abia As Ikpeazu, Otti Know Fate Today

By

The political temperature in Abia State rose sharply monday as news filtered that the governorship election petition tribunal sitting in Umuahia would deliver its verdict today.

The petition filed by the governorship flag bearer of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Mr. Alex Otti, challenging the election of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is the only case for determination.

The high level anxiety being generated by the petition was due to the stiff opposition that APGA gave PDP, which had held sway in the state for most of the period, except for the three year brief period that the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) was in government before the then governor defected to the PDP.

The governorship election held on April 11, 2015 in the state ended inconclusively thereby necessitating a supplementary poll of April 25, 2015.

Consequently the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) after collating the final tally, declared Ikpeazu winner with 264,713 valid votes as against 180,882 scored by his Otti, his closest rival.

The APGA candidate was dissatisfied with the outcome of the poll, claiming that the election was marred by malpractices and specifically asked for the result from Obingwa, Osisioma and Isiala Ngwa should be cancelled.

Both parties had adopted their written addresses on October 19, 2015, during which counsel to the first respondent, Chief Wole Olanipekun SAN, objected to the filing of three separate addresses of 40 pages each by the respondents.

He told the tribunal that the petitioners should be limited to only 40-page address but counsel to the petitioner, Chief Rotimi Akeredolu, countered it, saying the petitioners were entitled to separate addresses.

Ikpeazu had through his counsel urged the tribunal to dismiss the petition of Otti and his party, insisting that the reliefs sought by the petitioners “are ungrantable” as the petitioners failed to prove their allegations of irregularities and substantial non-compliance with the Electoral Act.

However, Akeredolu in adopting the written address of the petitioner, said the petitioners conceded that governorship election duly took place in 14 out of the 17 local governments.

He then argued that since election did not take place in Obingwa, Osisioma, Ugwunagbo, and Isiala Ngwa North the burden of proof had shifted to the respondents to show that polls were duly held in those areas, adding that even INEC could not bring a witness to testify in its favour.

With the angry reactions from the opposition generated by verdicts delivered by the National and State Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal there have been fears of violent protests. But whatever becomes the outcome of the legal tussle, it’s almost certain that it would continue at the appellate level.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

click to comment

Popular posts from this blog

How Important Are Leg Workouts for Muscle Gain?

By
How Important Are Leg Workouts for Muscle Gain?  You may think that its irrational, however lower-body preparing is favorable when you need to animate chest area muscle development. Leg exercises animate the absolute biggest muscles in your body, which makes a metabolic express that is helpful for muscle-building. You can manufacture muscle in your chest area without working out your legs, yet working all the significant muscles in your body will prompt quicker and better outcomes.  Developing Muscles  Muscle development happens when you separate strands through pressure — for this situation substantial obstruction preparing. Satellite cells surge in to fix those territories so the muscles end up thicker and more grounded. Explicit hormones flag the enactment of these satellite cells and the cells present inside the muscles, accordingly animating muscle development. The more bulk focused on, the more noteworthy the arrival of these hormones.  Since the legs, alongsid...
Post a Comment
Read more

The youngest self made billionaire

By
Unscripted television star Kylie Jenner is on track to wind up the most youthful independent tycoon in the United States on account of the blasting beautifiers organization she propelled two years prior, Forbes magazine gave an account of Wednesday. Jenner, 20, stepsister of Kim, Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian, appeared Kylie Cosmetics in 2016 with $29 lip packs containing coordinating lipstick and lip liner, and has since sold more than $630 million worth of cosmetics. Forbes said it esteemed her organization at about $800 million and that Jenner claims 100 percent of it. Including millions from TV projects, supports and after-charge profits from her organization, Forbes said Jenner was 'moderately' worth $900 million. One more year of development would make her the most youthful independent extremely rich person ever, male or female, the magazine said.
Post a Comment
Read more

Cigarette is good for Health ...

By
Cigarette smoking harms each organ of the body and prompts the general crumbling of the smoker's wellbeing. Malignancy was one of the main illnesses that specialists connected to cigarette smoking, and it keeps on being smoking's most famous wellbeing impact. Lung disease is most firmly connected to cigarette smoking. The odds that a male smoker will pass on of lung growth is 23 times that of somebody who's never smoked, while ladies who smoke run a hazard 13 times more noteworthy than non-smokers. Taking in tobacco smoke is horrendously unsafe to the lungs. The harm begins with the main puff and proceeds until the point when the smoker stops. Around 9 out of 10 passings from lung ailments are caused by smoking. A cigarette smoker's danger of passing on from an interminable obstructive lung malady like ceaseless bronchitis or emphysema is 10 times that of non-smokers. In any case, lung malignancy is a long way from the main type of growth owing to cigarette smoking. Ana...
Post a Comment
Read more