The immediate past governor of Imo State, Hon Emeka Ihedioha, declared yesterday that Nigeria’s judiciary and electoral system were on trial following the verdict of the supreme court which removed him from office last Tuesday.

Ihedioha stated this when the national working committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democr atic Party led by the national chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, paid him a solidarity visit in his Abuja residence yesterday.

Ihedioha was on Tuesday removed as governor of Imo State and was replaced by Sen Hope Uzodinma of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Ihedioha, who described the day of the judgement as black Tuesday, said the results were very clear as the electoral umpire still has the results, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has stated clearly that the results in question and the figures were not summing up.

“We are as shocked as yourselves, it was never anticipated. All legal pundits and democratic watchers never imagined and anticipated it, so for us it remains a mystery. But we take solace in the Book of Ecclesiastes 3:1 that to everything there is a season and time for every purpose under heaven. I believe that that event will define obviously our democracy.

“I am certain that the judiciary and electoral system are well aware that they are on trial. And what is fundamental about this is that the fact of the matter as relates to Imo State governorship election is that the foundation of our democratic processes, the elections in Imo were closely monitored, well advertised and everybody in Nigeria followed it through.

“The results were very clear, the electoral umpire still has the results, and INEC has stated clearly that the results in question and the figures are not summing up.

“It is not about Emeka Ihedioha, it is not about Imo State, it’s about the future of our country and democracy. It’s about what do we do tomorrow. Do you go into an electoral processes without having an idea; It has to be resolved one way or the other. I am calm and we are calm, and that is why you see in Imo, there is calmness. The calmness is coming out of shock. It is coming out of the fact that people are saying let us still see, can this be possible! We are waiting for answers and I believe there will be answers.

“We are faithful believers in God and God does not sleep. This will make history in many ways and so this is a historical process, historical action, and I am sure there will be historical answers at the end of the day. I want to assure you that we will remain resolute and committed to the ideals of our great party. And I want to say that that event will not put into question our faith in the Nigerian nation.

“It will not question our commitment to democracy, it will rather strengthen our resolve to match forward and make Nigeria a greater nation. And I am certain that from the events of that day, Nigeria will emerge a stronger and greater country. I want to urge you to continue to work with all lovers of democracy across board so that we can all put our heads together and match forward.

“This is not the time to celebrate, I pity anyone who is celebrating that sad event. If anyone is celebrating, that person is not a student of democracy. Our forefathers worked so hard to get us to where we are, and that is indisputable.

“So at a time like this, what are we bequeathing to the future generation? Our children are asking questions that have not yet been answered and the facts speak for themselves. I hope they will be addressed. It is a redefining moment, it is a time for sober reflection because to my own understanding of lawmaking, it is about precedence, it is about reference, and so we need to be guided on how to move forward.

“I remain strong in faith in our democracy, and strong in faith that the institutions of our democracy will always remain strong and guided , that our actions of today will define the events of tomorrow,” he said.

Speaking earlier the national chairman of the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus said, “With deep pain in our hearts, still grieving since on the 14th,right from the bottom of our hearts, we are communicating to our creator and we believe that all Nigerians are doing the same. It is no longer politics, elections are over, we are talking about good governance.

“We are not going to join issues with those who have deliberately knowingly undermined our democracy because some of them don’t even know that we are no longer in the politics of bitterness, rancour and bad blood.

“All over the world, people are moving from one stage to the other. We are convinced in our hearts that the truth and only the truth can save this nation. Some people believe that every issue should be trivialised, so when we speak you hear them coming against it without calming down to look at the depth of our statements, to see whether there are merits or no merits. We are a nation governed by laws.

“When we find ourselves in this situation, we must ask questions and we are a nation among all the other nations of the world and under one God. And a time comes that people must speak the truth and everything is not about politics.

“In the case of Imo State, we have more questions than answers because we can’t see the figures adding up. These are the questions agitating our minds and the minds of Nigerians. I want to appeal to our brothers who are on the other side, they should stop trivialising these issues.

They are of fundamental importance in nature. References are made in Sokoto, Rivers and Zamfara States. You cannot compare what happened in those states to Imo. The other ones are intra party. Let them come out and tell us what really happened, from the tribunal, to the appeal court up to the supreme court in the 388 polling units.

“What we seek in the case of Imo is for the supreme court to review the judgement and I believe that God will touch them to review it and they will reverse it in the interest of our nation so that we don’t celebrate the situation we found ourselves.

“Very eminent people are not speaking out today, it is at the door of Imo, tomorrow it will be at the door of another person, so people must speak out. The truth is what we are seeking, we are saying that the figures are not adding up. Can they look into it again?”

Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday lambasted the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, for attempting to politicise the judgment of the supreme court on the Imo State governorship election.

The party while claiming that there was evident consensus by the generality of Nigerians for a review of the judgement, said it was loathsome that Oshiomhole could resort to “hauling insults and gutter language on Nigerians, including PDP leaders, in his desperate bid to divert public attention from the perversion of justice by the supreme court in favour of APC.”

A statement by the national publicity secretary of PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, said Oshiomohole’s “desperation to blur public agitation against the injustice further confirms that APC is in league with Justice Mohammed Tanko-led supreme court in perverting justice in the Imo governorship election judgment as well as the heinous plots to use the court to take over other PDP-controlled states of Bauchi, Sokoto, Adamawa and Benue.”.

PDP’s comments on judiciary, depressing – APC Govs

Governors under the umbrella of Progressives Governors Forum have slammed the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over its comments on the supreme court judgement declaring Sen. Hope Uzodinma, as duly elected governor of Imo State. The governors, chided the opposition for their choice of words in castigating the judiciary.

In a statement signed by the chairman of the forum and governor of Kebbi State, Alh. Atiku Bagudu, the governors restated their confidence in the judiciary.

“Following the verdict of the supreme court in respect of Imo State election petition, which declared Sen. Hope Uzodinma of the All Progressives Congress as the winner of the March 9, 2019 governorship election, the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) proclaimed the judgement as miscarriage of justice and alleged that the judiciary is heavily compromised and has lost credibility.

These are depressing allegations coming from supposedly democratic leaders who should ordinarily be in the forefront of protecting and defending the judicial institution as the sanctuary of our democracy.

It is contemptuous and disrespectful to our democracy.

“This is most unfortunate and condemnable. We call on Nigerians and all lovers of democracy in the country to rise to the defence of our democratic institutions, especially the judiciary. We must prevail on the PDP leadership and all politicians to exercise restraint by demonstrating unalloyed loyalty and respect for our democratic institutions, particularly our judiciary, which is the most important pillar of democratic governance.

“To allege that a judgement delivered by supreme court Judges is procured simply because it does not favour the PDP is an invitation to anarchy. It is on record that President Muhammadu Buhari has at all times stated his commitment to democracy and rule of law. Our party has lost elections we thought we will win.

Equally, our party has been stopped from participation in elections by the judiciary, for example in Rivers State. The case of Zamfara where we won the election but the supreme court in its wisdom nullified all our votes and declared PDP candidates as winners is another experience. In addition, our party members have lost many cases, andeven though our views differ from the judgement delivered, we do not disparage the judiciary, yet our views of the judgement differ from the court.

“As progressive governors, we hereby declare abiding faith in our judiciary and will at all times, respect all decisions of our Judges at all levels no matter the circumstances. Our party and our members believe in the sanctity of our judicial institution as the last hope for justice for our people,” the statement said.

Supreme Court Verdict: Sokoto residents want more security presence

Despite the deployment of 1000 men and officers of the Nigeria Police Force to check any unforeseen tension in Sokoto ahead of the supreme court verdict slated for Monday,residents in the state have stated the need for more security presence.

Some of the residents who expressed fears that tension was building at a very alarming rate, after shifting the initial date for Monday 20, noted that the Imo State verdict equally added to the tension.

A local within Sokoto metropolis who spoke on condition of anonymity, said all did not seem to be well as the parties in the struggle (PDP/APC) were hopeful of taking the day.

“Our fears however is the likely display of transfer of aggression by any party that feels aggrieved by the outcome. Though, the leaders of the various respective parties might not be behind such absurdity, however, you cannot predict what their followers are up to.”

And to avoid the unexpected, the locals are therefore calling on the relevant security agencies to take a more proactive measure to stop violence from happening.

The residents in their appeal urged the parties to always remember that only God can give power.

They therefore called for more deployment of security personnel especially the army to areas considered to be volatile.

They are also calling on the police to intensify its intelligence gathering with reference to any activity of disbanded thugs.

Protest peacefully, Imo police warns PDP

As members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) perfect plans for their nationwide protests today over the pronouncements from the supreme court, the Imo State police command has warned that the protest must not be violent or cause chaos.

Imo State police public relations officer (PPRO), Orlando Ikeokwu , gave the warning in a statement made available to newsmen in Owerri, the state capital.

The PDP would today (Monday) protest against the verdict of the supreme court that sacked its candidate, Chief Emeka Ihedioha , as the state governor, and installed Senator Hope Uzodinma as governor.

According to the police spokesman, any aggrieved person or group has the right to protest any issue but whatever they do must be in accordance with the provisions of the law.

Ikeokwu said, “The command wishes to state in clear terms that it is the right of every individual or group to protest about any issue but such protest must be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the laws as the protest must not be violent, nor hijacked by hoodlums and used as a tool for looting, chaos and anarchy nor conducted in a manner likely to cause breach of the public peace.”

Furthermore, he warned that anyone or group caught instigating or inciting violence or breach of peace in any manner, would be arrested and made to face the wrath of the law. (Leadership)

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