The Supreme Court has affirmed Okezie Ikpeazu as the duly elected Governor of Abia State. The apex court's ruling nullifies the earlier decision by the court of appeal to cancel the guber elections and to swear-in Alex Otti.
Okezie Ikpeazu's election as the governor of Abia State has been upheld by the Supreme Court as it gave the ruling validating the April 11 governorship election on Wednesday night, but did not provide reasons for its judgment.
The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the Court of Appeal which nullified Ikpeazu’s election on December 31, 2015, and ruled that Ikpeazu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won the lawfully cast votes in the April 11, 2015 election.
The court said that the full details of the ruling would be provided on a February 26.
It can be recalled that the Court of Appeal sitting in Owerri had on December 31, removed Ikpeazu as governor and also declared Alex Otti of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) the winner of the April 11 and April 25 supplementary elections in the state.
Delivering judgment in an appeal filed by Alex Otti, the five-member panel, headed by Justice Oyebisi Omoleye, said the APGA candidate scored 164, 444 valid votes to defeat Ikpeazu who scored 114, 444 votes.
The court declared that Otti was the winner of the April 11 and April 25 supplementary elections in Abia.