Abia State Governor, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu has filed an appeal against
Monday’s judgment of a Federal High Court in Abuja which removed him
from office as governor over alleged falsification of tax receipts. The
Governor, in a notice of appeal filed by Chief Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN,
raised five grounds of appeal upon which he asked the Court of Appeal
to set aside the judgment and orders of the high court.
The governor said that the Federal High Court lacked the power to order
him to vacate the seat of Abia State Governor. The notice of appeal
reads:
“The trial judge erred in law when he ordered as a consequential order
that the appellant vacates his office as the Governor of Abia state
immediately when there was no jurisdiction in the Federal High Court to
remove, vacate the occupier of the office of the governor of a state or
order the removal of such officer after the unsuccessful challenge of
the result of the election at the Tribunal and swearing in of the
appellant as the governor.”
The governor said that the only power, authority and order exercisable
by the Federal High Court was to disqualify the candidate from
contesting the election based on section 31(6) of the Electoral Act
2010.
Ikepazu also faulted the judge when he held that he did not pay his tax
for the years 2011, 2012 and 2013, at when due, when he was a public
officer whose tax deduction was under Pay As You Earn (PAYE) scheme
where tax deductions were from the source of his monthly salary by the
tax authorities who isssued all the tax receipts and certificates.
He also said that the Abia State Board of Internal Revenue Services that
issued him with the tax certificates had not declared the certificates
forged and that the trial court did not invite the issuing authorities
to give evidence in the course of the trial.
Ikpeazu said that the plaintiff Dr Samson Uchechukwu Ogah was not a
staff of the Abia Board of Internal Revenue and did not any staff of the
board to testify that the tax certificates were forged.
He accused the trial judge, Justice Okon Abang of violating his right to
fair hearing by embarking on judicial investigation without giving him
(Ikepazu) the opportunity to address the court on the issue.
The notice of appeal also states:
“The learned trial judge erred in law when he held that the appellant
presented false information to the Independent National Electoral
Commission by his ingenous meticulous study and investigation of
documents filed in courts in the recess of his chambers and thereby
violated the right of the appellant to fair hearing.”
The governor said that the judge had no duty to investigate the contents
of documents dumped on the court in the recess of his chambers with a
view to finding for the plaintiff.
“The decision of the judge which arose from the judicial investigation
without opportunity to the appellant violated the appellant’s right to
fair hearing”, the governor said.
Ikepazu also rejected the decision of the high court declaring him
unqualified to be nominated as the primary election conducted by his
party because false information was supplied to INEC.
According to him, INEC Form CF001 which the judge relied on was not one
of the grounds of qualification to contest the primary election of PDP.
He said that the judge misconceived the presented by the parties and
thereby arrived at a wrong conclusion which occasioned a grave
miscarriage of justice. Meanwhile, the governor’s party, the PDP has
also rejected the judgment and filed a separate appeal.
The party said that the trial court erred in law when it held that it
had jurisdiction to hear the suit which was on whether section 24 (f) of
the 1999 constitution was complied with.
It said:
“The honourable trial court misdirected itself when it construed the
provisions of the PDP constitution to the detriment of the appellant
without giving the appellant a chance to be heard and thereby occasioned
miscarriage of justice.”
In the particulars of the error, the appellant said Ukeagbara and Mba
being “the 1st and 2nd respondents in the appeal did not pray the trial
court to construe the provisions of the PDP constitution.
“No evidence was led that the said Uche Sampson Ogah participated in the
2015 Abia State gubernatorial elections yet the trial court declared
him as winner of the said elections contrary to the express provisions
of section 141 of the Electoral Act.”
The PDP urged the Court of Appeal for “an order setting aside the
judgment of the Federal High Court of Nigeria in suit No.
FHC/ABJ/CS/10862014 delivered on the 27th day of June, 2016.”
Justice Okon Abang had on Monday ordered Ikpeazu’s removal from office
for giving false information in the form submitted to the Independent
National Electoral Commission by the PDP, nominating him as its
candidate for the April 11, 2015 governorship election.
In two separate judgments, Justice Abang ordered Ikpeazu to vacate the office of the governor of Abia State.
The judge also directed INEC to issue a fresh Certificate of Return to
the plaintiff in one of the two suits, Uche Ogah, who was the first
runner-up in the governorship primary conducted by the PDP on December
8, 2014. He had ordered that Ogah’s full entitlements be restored to him
as Governor of Abia State.
The judge made the orders after disqualifying Ikpeazu as the candidate
of the PDP in the April 11, 2015, governorship election on the basis
that he committed perjury by giving false information in the Form 8C001
and documents accompanying it, which he and the PDP submitted nominating
him to INEC as the party’s governorship candidate.