Protest Erupts In Abia As Court Sacks Labour Party Senator, Darlington Nwokocha, Declares PDP Winner.

Darlington Nwokocha.

Dozens of protesters took to the streets of Umuahia, Abia State, to express their dissatisfaction with the ruling of the Court of Appeal which sacked the lawmaker representing Abia Central, Senator, Darlington Nwokocha.

Until the ruling, Nwokocha, a Labour Party politician, was the Senate minority whip.

The Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos sacked Nwokocha, and declared the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Col. Austin Akobundu (retd.), the winner of the election.

The protesters, led by the deputy speaker of the Abia State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Austin Meregini, rejected the judgment, and called for its review.

Addressing protesters and party supporters, the LP chairman in the state, Ceekay Igara, described the judgment as a rape of democracy and a robbery of the people’s mandate.

“The judiciary should not be allowed to change the decisions of the people on the grounds of frivolous technicalities,” Igara said.

Igara noted that the people of the constituency were not happy and had complained bitterly.

“We are in shock about the judgement because Section 77 of the electoral act, where the panel relied on to deliver the judgment, which dealt with the membership of a party, has been decided by the Supreme Court as an internal affair of the political party,” he said.

“We are demanding the details of the judgement to enable our lawyers to study and decide on the next line of action.”

Igara said that the party would not allow the mandate of Abia Central constituents to be stolen through the back door.

He called on lovers of democracy to help protect Nigeria’s democracy against siege by political desperados.

Igara appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu not to allow greedy politicians to destroy Nigeria’s democracy for personal aggrandizement.