The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) this morning announced that it will head for the tribunal to challenge the return of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, as winner of the Abia State governorship election.

National Chairman of APGA, Chief Victor Umeh, made the announcement in Umuahia, insisting that it would be a rape on democracy if the result was allowed to stand as his party would have been robbed of its hard-won victory at the polls.

News Express had early yesterday morning reported that the abstention of the APGA agent at the INEC headquarters in Umuahia, Barrister Ahamdi Nweke, from endorsing the result sheets of the governorship election was a sign that APGA had rejected the result which was announced early Sunday morning after a supplementary election which held in some polling units in nine local government areas.

To confirm our report, the national leadership of APGA has come out publicly to say that it would head for the tribunal to question the declaration made by the Returning Officer, Prof. Benjamin Ozumba, that PDP’s Ikpeazu was victorious in the election.

“Having considered all circumstances of the governorship elections, we have come to the inescapable conclusion that our great party, APGA, will reject the result as announced, not because we cannot lose an election. But we can only lose an election through a credible free and fair process. It is more painful so where our candidate was a star candidate and a candidate of choice in the governorship election in Abia,” Umeh contended.

He said further: “He (APGA candidate, Dr. Alex Otti)won the election clearly. If you go and have a look at the results of the election, you will see how the people of Abia State came out strongly to elect him as their next governor and through this strange infraction, that mandate has been stolen.

“So, we are rejecting the result as announced. Accordingly, because we are a law-abiding political party, we will not resort to self-help. A fraudulent return has been made and we are as a political party, stating clearly that we are going to challenge this fraudulent return at the tribunal.”

Umeh said it was the only means to challenge the stealing of the mandate freely given to Otti and APGA.

“Again, it is to make it clear to everybody that in a democracy, the votes of the people willingly given to a candidate of their choice should be allowed to prevail,” he added, stressing that APGA would take every legal means and legitimate actions to ensure that the mandate Abia people gave to Otti would be restored.

He commended Abians for voting for APGA, and Otti for his good performance at the polls and assured him that the party would stand by him till victory is won.

Many APGA chieftains, including Otti’s running mate, Mrs. Uche Eme, Chief David Onuoha (Bourdex), APGA’s senatorial candidate for Abia North, Engr. Uchenna Okogbue, National Vice Chairman of APGA in the South East were present during the news briefing at Otti’s campaign headquarters in Umuahia.

•Photo shows APGA National Chairman, Victor Umeh, fielding questions from journalists.