Akwa Ibom, Abia polls: Fayose hails Supreme Court Justices

Ayodele Fayose, the governor of Ekiti state, has reacted to the legal victory of Governor Emmanuel Udom of Akwa Ibom state and Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia, Daily Post reports.
In a statement made on Thursday, February 4, in Ado-Ekiti, by his chief press secretary, Idowu Adelusi, Fayose described the judgment of the Supreme Court on the governorship elections in the two states as a victory of democracy and a triumph of patriotism over dictatorship.
The governor also commended the judges of the Supreme Court for having dispensed justice without fear despite intimidation and harassment.
“Those who are true lovers of democracy and patriotic Nigerians should show the courage needed to confront those who want to subvert the will of the people freely expressed through the ballot. We must also rise up and condemn any subterranean move to cow the judicial arm to do the bidding of some powers that be.
“A situation where judicial officers are intimidated by the comments made by some people in authority is condemnable. There is separation of powers in our constitution and all arms of government know what they need to do for our country to run smoothly and not as a personal fiefdom of anybody,” he said.
In his statement Fayose condemned Chief John Oyegun, the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress, for criticizing the Supreme Court judges for the affirmation of the electoral victory of Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers state.
“One may initially think Odigie-Oyegun was merely lamenting ‎their loss as a politician who has the interest of the people at heart. But going down his speech, the real motive for their desperation to win some states through the back door was exposed.
“His lamentation that the loss of an oil-rich state, no matter who low the price of crude oil is, revealed their greed. They are not after the welfare of the people, but are concerned with what they would gain from the commonwealth of the people. Nigerians can now see that they have nothing to offer, but are only after the ‘spoils’ of what they think they can get illegally,” he said.
Meanwhile, Senator Ben Murray-Bruce has also taken a swipe at Oyegun for his boldness to threaten the Supreme Court Justices and called on all politicians to emulate former president Goodluck Jonathan by learning to accept defeat.