The Coalition of Civil Societies in Nigeria has supported moves by Emeka Ihedioha to seek a review of the judgment of the Supreme Court that sacked him as governor of Imo State.
The coalition held that the Supreme Court erred in its ruling by pronouncing Hope Uzodinma as winner of the governorship election in the state.
The coalition also said that the judges gave two different verdicts of the case, adding that it was unprecedented for the Supreme Court to manipulate or doctor its own judgment to cover its track.
It also added that in making its ruling, the Supreme Court overthrew all known legal and electoral jurisprudence and settled principles as applied in other election cases.
The group said, “On January 14, 2020, the Supreme Court gave judgment in the Imo State governorship appeal
“The respondents were shocked when they approached the court for a copy of the judgment delivered in open court which lasted less than 10 minutes on that day and contained in about six pages, only to be given a judgment of 46 pages on January 22, totally different from the one read on January 14. It was a full and final judgment on that day.”
The coalition further stated that Uzodinma failed to provide any evidence aside from the fake result sheet not recognised by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
It added that the court should have aligned itself with the tribunal and appellate court by disregarding the results from the 388 polling units due to the high rate of electoral malpractices and violence.
It also held that as citizens, the judgment read by the Supreme Court lacked common sense and did not seem to meet the ends of justice as it questioned how the apex court admitted a result that is more than the total accredited voters without verification.
The coalition stated that some data in the document accepted by the court showed gross evidence of over-voting.
“A perusal of the table submitted by Hope Uzodinma to the tribunal on the 388 polling units in question shows how ridiculous the Supreme Court decision is.
“For instance, number 69 on the table where registered voters were 492; APC scored 819 votes; PDP 7. That is 334 voters more than registered voters, not to talk of accredited voters, which is much lower, though not stated in the table number 377 on the table, where registered voters were 367; APC scored 367; PDP 4. That is four voters more than registered voters, not to talk of accredited voters, which is significantly lower, though not stated in the table.
“Number 285 on the table, where registered voters were 449; APC scored 780; PDP 4. That is 335 voters more than registered voters, not to talk of accredited voters which are significantly lower, though not stated and that the document tendered by Senator Hope Uzodinma’s table of results from 388 polling units, did not have any scores for any other political party such as APGA, AA, Accord etc. where there were 70 political parties that contested the election.
“However, the Supreme Court added 213,695 votes to Hope Uzodinma of APC from the fake 388 units and 1,903 votes to PDP, thereby making the total votes scored at the election to be 953,083. This is far above the accredited voters clearly shown in the FORM EC8D before the tribunal as 823,743. Whopping 129,340 votes cannot be accounted for by the Supreme Court decision.
“We, therefore, call on Hon. Emeka Ihedioha to approach the Supreme Court to correct the patent errors in their judgment to ensure that justice is not only done but manifestly seen to be done.
“We also urge the Supreme Court to take courage and recall the Imo State governorship matter and correct the error and restore justice, peace, hope and faith in our democracy and regain the confidence of the Nigerian people,” noted the coalition.
