Tussle For Abia: The Entire World Is Watching Ikpeazu With His Delay Tactics- Ogah

​Barrister Monday Ubani, legal counsel to Governor-elect of Abia State, Dr. Uche Ogah, weekend, expressed dismay that the Chief Judge of Abia State, Justice Theresa Uzokwe, who ought to swear-in and administer oath of office to Ogah had gone into ‘hiding.’

Ubani, who addressed some select journalists in Lagos, said “the entire world is watching the delay tactics of Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu,” adding that “in the fullness of time Dr. Uche Ogah would be sworn in as the executive governor of Abia State, because the Chief Judge is not going to remain in hiding forever.”

Ubani, who disclosed that Ogah’s team of legal counsels were prepared for the task ahead, said, “if the Chief Judge continues to hide, we would explore other available alternatives to ensure that the right thing is done, which is swearing in Dr. Ogah as the executive governor of the Abia state.”

Genesis of legal battle

However, chronicling how the legal battle between Ogah and Ikpeazu started, Ubani said: “This issue came up as a result of the Primary of the Peoples Democratic Party which was held on December 8, 2014.

“My friend, and client, Dr. Uche Ogah and by the special grace of God the current governor of Abia State was a participant. He was manipulated out because the irregularities of that primary was glaring for all to see. Before we could start the Primary the delegates that were not supposed to be there were already inside the stadium. That irregularity produced Ikpeazu as the PDP candidate.

“But that was not the issue. The main issue all started when we sought to look at the documents presented by Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu which is a requirement of the law. The law says if you want to contest an election you must file in an affidavit, fill a form, disclose your educational qualification, your birth certificate and your tax papers. Now, the issue of tax is very critical. It is a constitutional requirement that if you want to contest an election in any political party you must have paid your tax for three years as at when due.

“Section 177(c) of the 1999 constitution says that a party must sponsor a candidate before he contests a general election. If a party don’t sponsor you, you can’t run for election. For that to happen, it means such a candidate must have complied with the guidelines of a political party before he is qualified to contest.

“But in Ikpeazu’s case, we went through his papers and discovered that he had lied. There were so many lies on the face of his tax papers. One of the things we discovered was that he was alleged to have started paying tax when he was not yet in the employment of the Abia State Government. Two, the serial numbers on his tax receipts were evidence of deception. The 2013 serial number showed as if it was the beginning of the tax payment, whereas, the 2011 receipt showed as if it was the last payment. The serial numbers were conflicting. The conflict showed that Ikpeazu had not paid his tax as at when due in accordance with the law.

“Third, was the issue of figures. Let us assume he was supposed to earn N500,000 per annum but in his tax papers, it was showing above N1million.

“He said his tax was being deducted at source. But the question is. If that was so, why the discrepancies in your taxable income. Is it not what he was earning, he should be taxed on. We found so many discrepancies in his tax certificate.

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