Protest hits London, Abuja As PDP Members demand Ihedioha’s reinstatement

By Success Nwogu , Abuja

Members of the Peoples Democratic Party on Monday protested in Abuja and London, the United Kingdom, against the judgment of the Supreme Court on the 2019 Imo State governorship election.

The protest came 24 hours after members of the party held similar protests in some states on Sunday.

The Supreme Court had on January 14 nullified the electoral victory of Chief Emeka Ihedioha, who was the PDP Imo State 2019 governorship candidate.

The apex court had held that the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Chief Hope Uzodinma, is the duly elected governor of the state and ordered that he be sworn in as the governor of the state.

In Abuja , the PDP leaders and members who wore black attires , started the protest from the PDP complex in Maitama , popularly called the Legacy House , enroute the Supreme Court complex.

The protesters included the PDP National Chairman , Uche Secondus ; the 2019 vice - presidential candidate of the party , Peter Obi; the Senate Minority Leader , Enyinnaya Abaribe: the PDP National Publicity Secretary , Kola Ologbondiyan; and the party ’s National Organising Secretary , Col . Austin Akobundu ( retd .).

Also present were members of the PDP National Working Committee; the PDP Youth Leader , Ude Okoye , as well as a senator who formerly represented Kogi West Senatorial District , Dino Melaye.

The protesters chanted songs and displayed the PDP flags and placards with inscriptions such as ‘ We are a united democratic nation , not a Banaba Republic ’; Do the right thing . Save Nigeria ,’ and ‘ Supreme Court , reverse your judgment on Ihedioha.’

Some of the PDP protesters narrowly escaped death at the Transcorp Hilton junction when one of the vehicles in their convoy rammed into a truck , which was also conveying some other PDP protesters.

Some of the protesters were injured but nobody died.

The protest ended abruptly at the Eagle Square after the protesters noticed that some suspected members of the APC had gathered at the Supreme Court Junction.

The APC members were apparently supporters of state governors whose cases came up at the apex court on Monday.

The leaders of the protest decided to stop the PDP members from continuing with the protest to the Supreme Court , which initially was supposed to be the terminal point of the protest.

They said their action to end the protest was to avoid any clash or confrontation with the suspected APC members.

Some of the PDP leaders took turns to address the protesters.

Secondus called on the Supreme Court to reverse its decision and reinstate Ihedioha.

He said the apex court made a mistake because the figures it relied on to declare Uzodinma the governor did not add up.

Secondus said, “ We are a nation governed by law ; therefore , all we are seeking today is for our very highly respected jurists at the highest court of the land to correct their mistake.

“ We are not against them , we are against the error. All we are asking them is to review the error because the figures are not adding up .

“ We are a democratic nation , and therefore , all democratic nations of the world are hearing us – the United States , the United Kingdom, even the United Nations , the African Union and ECOWAS.

“ We believe that people at the highest court of the land will hear our cry , revisit , review , and if possible , reverse , the judgment so that justice will be done , not only to the people of Imo State but for Nigerians who are crying. ”

In his speech, Obi appealed to the judiciary to save Nigeria.

He said the apex court’ s judgment could adversely affect democracy in Nigeria .

He said , “ I was in a minority party, I won election and the PDP did not intervene . I went to court , the PDP did not intervene . I benefited from it . Adams Oshiomhole wouldn ’t have been a governor ; he wouldn’t have been a beneficiary of judiciary if the PDP did what the APC is doing today. He benefited from it .”

Abaribe also called on the Supreme Court to review its judgment .

“ We have only one message to the judiciary, if the figures don ’t match , review ,” the senator said.

A member of the House of Representatives, Kingsley Chinda , asked the Supreme Court justices to remedy the perceived injuries they had allegedly caused.

In London, the protesters called on the Supreme Court to reverse the judgment on Imo State governorship election.

They also displayed placards with different inscriptions such as ‘ Supreme Court, reverse yourself , ’ ‘ Imolites voted for Ihedioha,’ ‘ Imo wants Ihedioha ,’ ‘ Tanko, resign now Imo for justice 1+ 1 = 300 Not in our generation. ’