The governor of Abia State, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, who was sacked by the Court of Appeal, has said that he remains the governor of the state.
The Court of Appeal had earlier on Thursday nullified the election that brought him in as governor and declared the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Alex Otti as the duly elected governor.
But Ikpeazu, who was the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in the election said in a statement after the Appeal Court verdict that he remains the governor until the Supreme Court reaffirms his mandate.
The statement reads: “I have just been informed that the Court of Appeal sitting at Owerri has nullified my victory as the duly elected Governor of Abia State and ordered that one of my opponents at the election, Dr. Alex Otti should be sworn in as the winner of the election.
“As of this moment, I have not received the full briefing on the reason for the decision of the Court of Appeal but my Lawyers are still at the Court waiting to obtain a copy of the Judgment for further studying and it is past 7pm. The next 4 days are Public Holidays and the timing of the judgment means that we are losing valuable days to study the judgment and file our Appeal.
“I wish to state at this point that preliminary reports available to me indicate that the premise upon which the decision of the Court of Appeal was arrived at is at best tenuous.
“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.
“I call 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. I also call on our supporters to remain calm in the face of provocation.
“I remain supremely confident that at the end of the day, victory shall be ours.
“I thank you all for listening and wish you a prosperous 2016.”
