Clerics urge Supreme Court to review judgement against Ihedioha
Religious leaders across Imo state have urged the Supreme Court to review its judgement that voided the March 9, 2019 election of Emeka Ihedioha of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the governor of the state.
The National Working Committee of the Alaigbo Development Foundation (ADF) in the same vain described the removal of Ihedioha as the Imo state governor by the Supreme Court as a mindless assault on democracy and rule of law which is its foundation.
At a press conference held at the headquarters of the Charismatic Renewal Ministries (CRM) in Owerri, the state capital on Wednesday, Rt. Rev. Chidi Oparaojiaku, who spoke on behalf of the church leaders under the auspices of the Concerned Church Leaders Forum, said the judgment runs “counter to the facts on ground and raises a lot of questions.”
Oparaojiaku, who doubles as the Anglican Bishop of Ohaji-Egbema, questioned the rationale upon which the apex court arrived at its judgment, warning that the judgment if not justified would set a bad precedent for the judiciary and democracy in the country.
The church leaders therefore, urged the Supreme Court to reverse itself to ensure that justice is served in the overall interest of peace, unity, development and the continued survival of democracy in the country.
Oparajiaku said that “it is not that Christian leaders hate the newly sworn-in governor of Imo state who is undoubtedly an Imolite, but the judgment has raised a lot of unanswered questions.
“Where there is therefore, any perceived act of injustice, we are morally authorized to speak out and question the modalities for the injustice.
“We are deeply worried at what will be the fate of future elections in Nigeria if the courts are allowed to use technicalities to subvert the will of the electorate.
“The general public and especially Imolites will like to know how the Supreme Court arrived at the decision which plants injustice. In view of the above, we join millions of Nigerians to call on the Supreme Court to review that judgment; urge Imolites and all interest groups to ensure that only the way of peace, maturity and godliness is employed in handling this sensitive matter.”
Also, the Alaigbo Development Foundation (ADF) has said that it is not only rejecting the Supreme Court judgement removing Ihedioha as governor, but condemned the ruling as an assault on democracy and rule of law.
In a statement issued and signed by Prof. Uzodinma Nwala and Prof. Nath Aniekwu, president and secretary of ADF respectively, the group said that “it (the judgement) is, above all, an arrogant assault on the fundamental rights of Imo people to decide those to whom they give their mandate to preside over their political affairs for the next four years.”
The statement said the ADF position is based on a number of factors surrounding the judgement, among which is “the technical and substantive impossibility of a candidate who came fourth in the election with 96,450 votes would overtake every other candidate to defeat the number one candidate who scored 273, 404 votes.
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“And this is a candidate whose party, the All Progressive Congress (APC) did not win any seat in the state House of Assembly election held simultaneously, with the governorship election in the 2019 general elections.
“What is more, the manner in which the Justice Tanko-led Supreme Court judges did their on- the-spot calculations and came to their conclusion is so bizarre that one wonders whether this is happening in a normal human society or in Alice’s Wonderland.
“The Justice Tanko-led Supreme Court appears to be desperately keeping faith with the grand design for which Justice Tanko was brazenly fostered on the Nigerian judiciary after Justice Walter Onnoghen.”
