We’ll remove Ohakim soon, APGA boasts

More troubles loom for Chief Ikedi Ohakim, governor of Imo state (right), in the New Year (2009).

This time around, Ohakim’s migraine will not be coming from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP)’s Chief Ifeanyi Ararume’s pending appeal against his election, but from All Progressives Grand alliance (APGA), chaired by Chief Victor Umeh (left). Umeh has just promised Governor a surprise gift this 2009. And the gift is all about Ohakim’s removal from office as governor of Imo State, Nigeria.

Chief Umeh stated that his party has filed necessary papers towards Governor Ohakim’s removal at the appeal court in Abuja. The APGA hinted that the Abuja appellate court has duly asked that of Port Harcourt division to stop further proceedings in a similar matter before it "so that the Court of Appeal will not suffer embarrassment."

Umeh asserted that the crux of the matter is the clear victory of his party’s candidate, Chief Martin Agbaso, in the April 14, 2007 governorship election in the state which, according to him, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) annulled. It would be recalled that the first edition of governorship election in Imo state was, for reasons best known to the monstrous government of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, annulled by the INEC which rescheduled the poll.

It was as a result of this annulment that APGA approached the court of appeal in Abuja to find out if INEC has the power to cancel an election it has conducted.

“ The answer is 'No' under the Nigerian law. When we went to the tribunal in Owerri to challenge the outcome of the April 2007 election, the tribunal declined jurisdiction. We went to the Court of Appeal in Port Harcourt, it declined jurisdiction and said that our matter was, indeed, a pre-election matter, that they were concerned with petitions arising from the election, which ought not to have taken place. So, we went to back to Court of Appeal, Abuja because we had challenged that action in the Federal High Court, Abuja in 2007," Umeh explained.

He revealed APGA have been able to attach results of 24 local governments collated during the election, adding that the collated results showed that Agbaso won the poll by over 90 per cent of total votes cast on the April 14, 2007 guber election in the state.