The Abia State Governorship battle which started some days has taken a new dimension as the Abia State Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu has alleged that his rival, Sampson Ogah is only desperate for the governorship seat because of the immunity it presents.
Ikpeazu while reacting to the issuance of Certificate of Return by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC to Sampson Ogah said his rival had twelve criminal charges leveled against him in some courts in Lagos state and was seeking a way out.
He said: “We are baffled by the urgency and the desperation to bounce into the government and when put side by side with the various criminal charges which border on different kinds of things which are subsisting in various courts in Lagos State against this same person, it becomes a little bit clearer why the desperation in the first place; (it’s) probably just to get a veil of immunity just to run away from the certainty of the court’s decision for or against him as it were.
“What is on trial is our democracy; it is not about me as a person, but it is about the will of the people of Abia State. And why it is very difficult for the Abia people to accept it is that everyone knows that I have been working for the government in this environment.”
He further added: “My last duty post was (in) the Abia State Environmental Protection agency and for anybody to say that I have problems with my tax, it will be strange to our people because they know I was working for the government and the government was paying me.
“The Board of Internal Revenue, whose duty it is to assess and levy tax has come out with the document and said it was issued by them and if there is any question to be asked, the BIR is the one to answer the question.
“I want to assure the people that this illegality will not stand but I will test it through the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.
“I want to dissuade the rumours that are making the round that some people are sponsoring this injustice against our state because we understand the current position of the government at the federal level against corruption and it cannot support somebody battling to wear the veil of immunity just because the person wants to run away from the certainty of justice.”
He continued: “Even if it was a death sentence that was passed on me, I don’t think I deserved to be executed without my right of appeal and that right is undeniable and fundamental.”
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