• Wait for the court, he tells Ikpeazu, Ogah

(Godwin Tsa, ABUJA and Okey Sampson, ABA)

THE Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, has distanced himself from the logjam over the Abia State governorship seat. He said contrary to insinuations, he did not direct the Indepen­dent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to issue certificate of return to Uchechukwu Ogah declaring him governor-elect.

The AGF also said he was yet to proffer any legal opinion on the crisis and advised parties involved to await the decision of the courts.

In a statement released yesterday by his me­dia aide, Salisu Othman Isah, the AGF said: “As far as the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation is concerned, the consti­tutional powers for the legal opinion of his office have not been invoked on this issue. So far, nobody has approached him to proffer any legal opinion to it. As a strong believer in the rule of law, it is his belief that the law should naturally take its course. The Honourable Attorney General of the Federation will not be dragged into this controversy and mind-games being played out by the various legal minds and spin doctors of both camps at this point.

“The parties involved should await the deci­sion of the courts. In fact, we wish to, by this statement, advise those in the habit of drag­ging the highly esteemed Office of the Hon­ourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice into knotty issue of this kind even when it is yet to take a position. They should desist from these unwarranted presumptions henceforth.”

The governor crisis in the state began last week following the annulment of Ikpeazu’s election by the Abuja Federal High Court judgment over tax certificate forgery. The court ordered INEC to issue certificate of return to Ogah. However, in a swift move, the Abia State presided over by Justice Chibuzor Ahuchago stopped Ogah from being sworn-in by any judicial official in the state. With Ogar and Ikpeazu laying claim to the Abia Govern­ment House, there has been confusion, ten­sion and uncertainty in Abia. When and how the stalemate would be resolved remained to be seen.

Meanwhile, the Abia State government said it has uncovered plots by politicians to kidnap judicial officers in the state. It did not name them.

This is even as the Chief Judge of the state, Justice Theresa Uzoamaka Uzokwe denied ever absconding from her duty post on Thurs­day, June 30, 2016 to avoid swearing in Uche Ogah.

In a statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, Enyin­naya Appollos, government warned those involved in the plot to desist from it or face the full weight of the law.

It called on security agencies in the state to increase surveillance and protection services around all the judicial officers in the state.

The Chief Judge in denying the allegation that she absconded from office to avoid swear­ing Ogah in as governor, in a statement signed by the acting Chief Registrar, Abia Judiciary, Mrs. Vicky Analaba, stated: “Contrary to the allegations of cowardice by mischievous politicians, the Chief Judge, was in her office throughout work time on Thursday, June 30, 2016 from 8:30am till 4:30pm”.

To buttress her point, Mrs. Analaba said the Chief Judge handled four cases on the said day and wondered why the CJ would have been said to have absconded from office.