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Protest rocked Umuahia, the Abia State capital yesterday as members of the ruling Labour Party, marched through major streets to register their displeasure over the sack of the Senate Minority Whip and Senator representing Abia Central, Senator Darlington Nwokocha (LP).
The Eastern Updates had reported that the Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos had on Saturday sacked Senator Nwokocha, and declared the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Col. Austin Akobundu (retd.), the winner of the 25th of February senatorial poll in the Abia Central district.
The protesters, led by the Deputy Speaker of the Abia State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Austin Meregini, vehemently rejected the judgment, and called for its review.
They also required that every member of the panel that rendered the decision be thoroughly investigated.
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The protesters, who chanted songs in solidarity with the ousted Senator and LP, carried placards with various inscriptions, such as Judicial impunity must stop, “We voted for Darlington Nwokocha and not Col. Austin Akobundu’; “Darlington’s mandate must be recovered, among others.
The protesters, who were adorned in black attire, described the judgement as pervasive and strange.
Addressing the mammoth crowd of protesters and party supporters, the LP Chairman in the state, Mr Ceekay Igara, described the judgment as a rape of democracy and a robbery of the people’s mandate.
He said that the judiciary should not be allowed to change the decisions of the people on the grounds of frivolous technicalities.
Igara said that the people of the constituency were not happy and had complained bitterly.
The LP Chairman wondered why the panel of the appeal that sacked Nwokocha also upheld the election of the member representing Isiala Ngwa North and South Federal Constituency, Chief Ginger Onwusibe, who had a similar case with him.
‘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.
‘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.
