Onyechi Ikpeazu: 7 things to know about lead counsel who defended Adeleke’s victory
Onyechi Ikpeazu made headlines on Tuesday when his client, the incumbent governor of Osun, Senator Ademola Adeleke was declared as the legitimate winner of the July 16, 2022 governorship election by the Supreme Court.
A three-member panel of the appellate court led by Mohammed Shuaibu had as of last year affirmed Adeleke’s victory, nullifying the judgment of the election petition tribunal for “lacking merit”.
Justice Agim, in the Supreme Court judgment, held that the appellant (Oyetola) failed to prove the allegations of over-voting and other irregularities in the conduct of the election.
In this article, We highlights seven (7) things to know about Onyechi Ikpeazu:
1. Born in Onitsha, Anambra on April 15, 1959, Dr Ikpeazu has been in active legal practice till date and has served as Chairman of the Onitsha Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association and NEC (National Executive Council) member of the national body, NBA.
2. The US-trained lawyer was conferred with the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria, (SAN) and in 2007.
3. Some of the landmark cases handled by Dr Ikpeazu include MOJEKWU V. MOJEKWU; MOJEKWU V. IWUCHUKWU preserving the inheritance right of a woman; NGIGE V OBI reported in (2006) 14 NWLR (Part 999) 1, a decision that brought Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi to office as the duly elected Governor of Anambra.
4. It will interest you to note that Dr Ikpeazu is also one of the 12 SANs in Obi’s legal team challenging the victory of Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
5. He is also part of several Senatorial and National Assembly Election Petitions across the country.
6. Besides election cases, Dr Ikpeazu has also provided legal representation in International Arbitrations across several jurisdictions.
7. He is happily married and blessed with children.
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