Group berates lawmakers over protest ban in Imo

• Uzodinma’s kinsmen urge S’Court to reverse judgment
• Respect verdict, Imo elders tell Ihedioha

The apex socio-cultural organisation in Imo East Senatorial District, Olu Owerri, has berated members of the state House of Assembly for adopting a motion banning protests in the state.

Reacting to the motion in a statement in Owerri, Chief Martin Opara and Mr. Sylvester Nwogu, President and Secretary of the group respectively, accused the lawmakers of acting over ‘a pot of portage’, saying that posterity would reward them for their action.

The group said that the action of the lawmakers was a betrayal of the trust of the people of the state “at a time of great tragedy against good governance in the state, which was truncated by the Supreme Court judgment.”

Meanwhile, kinsmen of Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State under the aegis of the Orlu Youths Platform (OYP) have appealed the Supreme Court to reverse its judgment, which ousted Ihedioha from office in the interest of peace, equity, fairness and justice.

This was contained in a statement signed by the National Co-ordinator of the socio-political youth body, Nwadike Orient, in Owerri, yesterday.

However, as the Movement for the Advancement of Democracy, in collaboration with Cadrell Advocacy Centre, Youth Arise for Nigeria and Constitutional Rights Advocacy Initiative, said Uzodinma did not meet the provisions of Section 179 (2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as Amended) for which the court nullified Ihedioha’s victory, some elders in Imo State, led by Chief John Enyogosi, have advised that the Supreme Court judgment, which ousted Ihedioha and installed Uzodinma, should be respected by the entire people of the state.

At a press conference in Owerri, yesterday, the elders’ group, which identified itself as Imo State Elders’ Council, that the apex court verdict was in the overall interest of the state.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has fixed tomorrow, February 18, 2020 for the review of the judgment. Ihedioha had applied for the review on the basis that the judgment was delivered in error and should be set aside.

In another development, a political pressure group, Concerned Nigerians, has raised the alarm over alleged plan by the apex court to use the same panel that nullified Imo election to review it on Tuesday.

The group, led by its Convener, Deji Adeyanju, which berated the court for ridiculing itself to the extent where citizens question its judgment, said that it had reliably been informed that the apex court might use the same panel that nullified the election to hear the application filed by Ihedioha tomorrow.