Members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Imo State on Sunday shut down Owerri, the state capital, in protest over last Tuesday’s sacking of Emeka Ihedioha as the governor of the state by the Supreme Court.
Ihedioha was the PDP candidate in the March 9, 2019 governorship election in the state.
The protest took place even as security operatives including policemen and army officers took over all the corners of the state to maintain law and order.
Dressed in black attires, the PDP members paraded the state capital, calling on the apex court as well as the jurists that presided in the Imo governorship petition to revisit their judgment.
Recall that a seven member panel of the Supreme Court led by the Chief Justice of Nigeria Muhammad Tanko had on Tuesday in a unanimous verdict sacked Ihedioha and declared Hope Uzodinma of the All Progressives Congress as the duly elected governor of the state.
The protesters said they would not leave the streets if the apex court refused to revisit the matter.
A member of the House of Representatives, Henry Nwawuba, who spoke to journalists, said the Supreme Court jurists had murdered democracy in the state with their judgment.
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Nwawuba, who is representing Mbaitoli/Ikeduru Federal Constituency of Imo State said that the apex court had done grave injustice to the people of the state.
According to him, Imo state had become a graveside since the Supreme Court delivered the judgment.
He said, “I am a Lawmaker and I believe that the Supreme Court must redeem the judiciary.
Since the judgment was delivered, the state has become a graveyard (and) this is unlike what was happening when PDP was holding sway.
“How the Supreme Court justices gave victory to a candidate who came fourth in an election remains a mystery to many of us. We call on them to revisit the Imo case and do justice. ”
A PDP Women Leader in the state, Maria Mbakwe, said that women in the state were devastated with the verdict.
Speaking with tears in her eyes Mbakwe said, “I have never seen this kind of injustice since over 50 years I have been in Imo State. Imo women in the market and all over the state are crying. We are begging the Supreme Court justices to revisit the matter. We know that they are human beings and they can make a mistake. “
