The All Progressives Congress, APC, Abia State chapter has rejected the judgement of the governorship election petition tribunal which affirmed Governor Alex Otti as the winner of the March 18 poll in the state, describing it as a miscarriage of justice.
This was contained in a statement issued by the Chairman of APC in Abia State, Dr. Kingsley Ononogbu following the tribunal’s dismissal of their petition and that of other opposition against Alex Otti for lack of merit.
According to him, the judgement of the three-man panel is unacceptable by the party, News About Nigeria reports.
“This verdict handed down by the three-man panel is the mother of miscarriage of justice. It is unacceptable and we reject it. We condemn unequivocally the judgement of the tribunal. Consequently, we have mandated our legal team to appeal the judgement of the tribunal.
“With this judgement today, it is obvious that justice was strangulated; more so, and very worrisome is that the court may no longer be the hope of the common man if justice continues to be debased.”
He further revealed that his party did not only approach the tribunal with fundamental issues that question non-compliance and qualification but also provided substantial evidence and facts in support of their petitions but were surprised that the tribunal closed its eyes against all the evidence before it and averted justice.
The APC Chairman also stated that the people of the state are aware of the extraneous forces that were at play during the proceedings which led to the unacceptable judgement by the tribunal.
Speaking on his claim that the tribunal judges were intimidated, Ononogbu said, “regrettably, the Abia Election Petition Tribunal could not brush off or borrow courage to defeat intimidation to deliver justice as exemplified recently, by the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal.
He, however, called on the people of the state and their supporters, to remain calm, noting that hope is not lost as they will proceed to the Supreme Court.
“We will not be deterred by this temporary setback. We are confident that in the end, justice and the rule of law will prevail, knowing that “Though the wheels of justice turn slowly, it grinds exceedingly fine,” he stated.
