Protest rocks Imo again over Supreme Court judgment

Owerri, the Imo Scapital, was again on Thursday shut down by aggrieved protesters over January 14, 2020 Supreme Court judgment which sacked Hon. Emeka Ihedioha as the governor of the state and declared Senator Hope Uzodinma as duly elected governor.

The protest which started at about 10 a.m with majority of demonstrators being members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), dressed in black clothes chanting songs. The demonstrators urged the Supreme Court Justices to reserve themselves.

The protesters assembled at Ugwu Ekwema along Egbu Road before marching to Fire Service Round about where they were addressed by PDP leaders. The protest resulted to vehicular gridlock at state capital as armed police men and other agencies condoned off all the major streets in the state capital.
Addressing the protesters, former Secretary to the State Government, Chief Uche Onyeaguocha, told the crowd that with Supreme Court judgment on Imo State governorship appeal, the justices of the Supreme Court had brought shame to themselves, to Nigerian judiciary as well as the people of Nigeria, saying that wherever they are, they have brought shame to themselves.

“But, we’re giving them opportunity by this rally to clean themselves. They have to go back and reverse themselves. They have to bring back justice to the people of Imo State who actually voted for Governor Emeka Ihedioha during the 2019 election.”

“Hope Uzodinma is unelected. He cannot be governor of Imo State. This state cannot be ruled by a ‘guy’ man. We will not accept him. Ihedioha is our governor and we voted for him.

“What we are doing today is to show the world that the people are still with Ihedioha. He governed this state with integrity and he will continue to be our governor. Nobody will steal our mandate.”

“We want that injustice reversed. We believe there are a bunch of justices who still have conscience amongst the Supreme Court justices and who also care about the future of our democracy. They should revisit the judgement and vacate it.

“We thank the people of Imo State for being firm in support of Governor Emeka Ihedioha. Don’t despair because this mandate must be retrieved.

“The Supreme Court must reverse this dubious judgment “, Imo people never elected Hope Uzodinma governor”, “Ihedioha is our elected Governor,” he added.

Onyeaguocha stated that Uzodinma did not win an election as the governor of the state, pointing out that Senator Uzodinma finished a distant fourth in the March 9, 2019 governorship election and was wrongfully declared as the governor of the state by Supreme Court, adding that the people of the state would not accept such an imposition.

He maintained that the Supreme Court Justices who had messed up themselves by delivering such a judgment should redeem their image by reversing the judgment by restoring Ihedioha who was the duly elected by the people of the state as their governor and that the people will continue the protest until the Supreme does the right.

He said: “The Supreme Court declared a man who did not win an election as a governor and the Supreme Court knows that they have messed up. They know that they have brought shame to the Nigerian Judiciary. The Judgment is unacceptable to the Nigerians and to Imo people in particular.

“The protest is to give the Supreme Court the opportunity to correct the grave error in their judgment which has made Nigerian Judiciary a laughing stock in the comity of nations. We are asking them to vacate that dubious judgment by restoring Emeka Ihedioha as the duly elected Governor because it is inexplicable for the Supreme Court to declare a man who finished a distant fourth as a winner. We will continue this protest till we get Justice.”

Also speaking, the acting Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, Martins Ejiogu, said that the Supreme Court should restore Ihedioha who was duly elected by the people of Imo State as it is a great disservice to deny the people of their choice.

“We are insisting that the Supreme Court should restore the duly elected governor of the state, Emeka Ihedioha. The Supreme Court has to restore their honour and confidence of Nigerians in the Judiciary by reversing the dubious judgment against the people of Imo State because what they did was great disservice to the people of the state.”

The Daily Times recalls that the first protest on the Supreme Court judgment was held on January 19, 2020 in Owerri, the state capital.