The Court of Appeal has ordered a status quo ante bellum in the Abia State governorship tussle

By

Mike Odeholonta

Although the Court of Appeal has ordered a status quo ante bellum in the case where the Governor of Abia State,  Ikpeazu is battling to keep a seat that has been largely proven to have been obtained by false pretences, hopes are that they decide on it soonest. it is however trite that like the proverbial strong man that dispossess a child of his piece of meat and raises his hands handsd the reach of the child, when his hands starts paining him, he will bring it down for the child to recover his possession.

One interesting aspect of law is that both parties indulge in advocacy to justify their position once a brief has been perfected no matter how spurious.That is why lawyers never lose cases but clients do. In all fairness, if facts be relied on to determine who should be sitting on the coveted seat of Abia State Governor, Uche Ogah should be the person for reasons that I shall canvass.

Many have argued that Ogah laid an ambush forIkpeazu by filing the case that ought to have been determined before the proper election but a quick answer is that nothing could be further from the truth than that. Ogah had filed his case raising the issues of Ikpeazu’s tax papers well before the conclusion of the elections and therefore does not constitute any form of ambush.

Again, whoever goes to equity should do so with clean hands quite unlike the practice where the criminally smart and crooked have their way over good men. Those who have baved their fangs calling for blood against the move for justice that will in the a long term benefit the largely misruled state of Abia may be doing so due to the temporary gains they are making which has been the mindset that has set Abia centuries back. It is the “smartness” of Ikpeazu and his co-travelers that has landed him in the late macabre dance as he did everything legally possible to stop the determination of the case then not knowing he was postponing the evil day for himself. Have we, including legal luminaries that have done.