Why I sought review of Supreme Court judgment, by Ihedioha

Uzodinma assures women equal opportunity in govt 
The former Governor of Imo State, Emeka Ihedioha, has said that it was an effort to safeguard the Nigerian democracy that propelled him to seek the review of the Supreme Court judgment, which ousted him from office.

Ihedioha, in a statement yesterday, opined that history would vindicate and be kind to the dissenting Justice Centus Nwanze, who gave the minority judgment in his favour.

The former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives said: “Whatever may be the personal injury I suffered as a result of the miscarriage of justice, my main concern in this whole tragic episode is not about me. It has always been about the implications this judgment could have for the future of our democracy and the right of the electorate to have their votes count.

“If institutions that are critical to the entrenchment of rule of law could thwart the wishes of the people in a cynical manner, where lies the future of our democracy? That was why I sought a review of the Supreme Court judgment. Even though justice was not served at the end, the well-articulated dissenting judgment delivered by His Lordship, Justice Centus Nweze, has vindicated our stand. I am sure that history and posterity will be kind to him,” he said.

Ihedioha said that all the efforts of the people to reverse the judgment would ever remain in his heart.

Meanwhile, the governor, Hope Uzodinma, has promised to offer women equal opportunity in his government, adding that he intends to carry more women along in governance than his predecessors did. 

Uzodinma, who gave the assurance in a message to mark this year’s International Women’s Day, posited that his administration is gender-friendly, stressing that the appointment he made so far gave women a pride of place. 

The governor, who challenged the women to use their potentials to press forward the holistic development in the state and bring to the fore their intellectual and motherly endowments to moderate the excesses of humanity, also enjoined them to raise the bar of moral rectitude by inculcating the right the moral values in their children to discourage cultism, promiscuity, indecent dressing, child trafficking among other vices.