Governor-elect of Abia State, Dr Okezie Victor Ikpeazu, says he is not disturbed by the vow by the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Dr Alex Otti, that the battle for the Abia governorship contest has just begun as he (Otti) and his party, APGA were going to challenge the result of the Abia governorship elections at the Election Petitions Tribunal.

Ikpeazu, in his maiden press conference at his Umuobiakwa, Obingwa country home after being declared victorious in the Abia guber race, dedicated his victory to God and Abians.

Otti had in his reaction to the outcome of the Abia governorship contest said that the mandate Abians freely gave him had been stolen by the PDP which featured Ikpeazu in the guber duel.

However, Ikpeazu said he was not afraid of the impending legal battle, adding that he would be accompanied by the Abia electorate who gave him their mandate.

“His (Otti’s) statement is not a threat at all, that is the way of bad losers. All of them say the same thing and they do the same thing. If I did not expect it, then I am not a serious-minded person.

“Luckily for me, he can’t go to the tribunal in my absence, we will all be there to defend the mandate. I am the custodian of that mandate and going with me will be 1.3 million voters of Abia state or if I like, I narrow it down to those who voted on those days,” Ikpeazu said.

According to him, he had expected Otti to emulate President Goodluck Jonathan by congratulating him (Ikpeazu) and conceding defeat.

“I thought some of us would have looked at what President Goodluck Jonathan did by conceding defeat and decided to toe the path of a statesman. But if somebody takes his desperation to the wire, there it goes,” he added.

The governor-elect asserted that his victory at the polls was entirely the hand work of God, adding: “The natural thing to say is to dedicate that victory to God Almighty who fulfilled His own words and crowned our efforts and our struggles with a resounding victory.

“I will also want to thank Ndi Abia, those that found time to express their confidence in me and in my party, the PDP, through the ballot by voting massively and resoundingly, both during the first elections of April 11, 2015 and the supplementary that came on April 25, 2015.

“They made a statement and I want to say that that statement was symbolic because for the first time we saw the endorsement of a common Abian and somebody who has come to defend the middle class and more historically, somebody from the Ukwa/Ngwa ethnic tribe comprising nine local governments.

“My commitment to Ndi Abia, from Arochukwu to Umunneochi, to Ukwa, to Ikwuano, is that I will treat every person that is from Abia, that is in Abia doing business in Abia, equally and fairly.

“My mandate is to serve the Abia citizenry and to catalyse infrastructure development, catalyse unity in all spheres of human development – politically, economically and socially – and also to catalyse unity among Ndigbo and the South East, wherever they may belong and also support the overall development of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, with Abia making a strong statement as an economic hub in the days ahead and I know that God who started this journey will remain with us.”

•Photo shows Governor-elect Okezie Ikpeazu fields questions from newsmen.

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