Governor Ikpeazu of Abia State

Nigeria apex court, the Supreme Court on Friday affirmed the election of Mr Okezie Ikpeazu as the duly elected Governor of Abia state.

Consequently, the  Court struck out the appeal filed by Mr Uche Ogah, challenging the nomination if Mr. Ikpeazu as the candidate of Peoples Democratic Party in the 2015 gubernatorial election and his subsequent victory in the poll.

While dismissing the case, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, held that the suit instituted by Ogah lacked merit and shouldn’t have been entertained in the first instance.

Court of Appeal had earlier affirmed the election of Mr. Ikpeazu, prompting Mr Uche to approach the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, Governor Ikpeazu has dedicated his victory over Uche Ogah at the Supreme Court to the people of Abia state, who he said, stood by him all through the period of litigations.

The governor in a statement issued on Friday by his Chief Press Secretary, Enyinnaya Appolos, stated that the victory was a re-affirmation of the mandate given to him by the people, and now twice confirmed by the Supreme Court.

He stressed that only God will take glory for the victory, and commended the judiciary for standing firm on the side of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Governor Ikpeazu wishes to call on all Abians to join hands with him to ensure accelerated growth and development of the state.

He said, The time for politics is long over, and I have forgiven all those that were bent on distracting me. Let all well meaning Abians, including my opponents, come and join us to grow and develop our state without distractions as we ultimately have stakes in the growth and development of our state and people

“Today, there is the work of Abia to do and history will judge us by how much of that work we do, not by how much politics we play. My doors are open to all, my ears are open to hear and my eyes are strong enough to read suggestions on how we can best deliver greater dividends to those who really matter: the great people of Abia State.”