Leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) and members marched on the streets in Abuja on Monday against the Supreme Court judgment that sacked former Imo State Governor Emeka Ihedioha.
Addressing a rally, PDP National Chairman, Uche Secondus, and a former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi, advised the APC-led Executive arm of government to stop interfering with judicial process as well as the official engagements of security agencies and the Independent National Electoral Commission.
They also asked the justices of the Supreme Court to be magnanimous enough to accept the fact that they erred in the Imo State election case.
Secondus said that all the protesters were demanding was for the Supreme Court to reverse the judgment.
According to him, the PDP leaders and supporters are out for a peaceful, nonviolent protest to show they were all Nigerians.
He appreciated the protesters,saying: ”I want to congratulate you all for coming from all the nooks and crannies of this country, peacefully, to register our protest.
“We are here, under one God, under one nation; our nation is under the rule of law.
“We are a nation governed by law; therefore, all we are seeking today (yesterday) is for our very highly respected jurists at the highest court of the land to be just.”
To the Supreme Court judges, he said: “We are not against you, we are against the error. And by the special grace of God, I know you will revisit the error.
“All we are saying is for you to review this error because the figures are not adding up.
“We, therefore, call on the leadership of the judiciary to please note that we are all human beings. God is the highest.”
Secondus added that since the Supreme Court judges ”worship God,” “they should revisit and reverse the Imo State judgment because we believe that the figures are not adding up.”
Also addressing the protesters, Obi cautioned the APC-led Executive arm of government against derailing the democratic process by teleguiding the Supreme Court.
”I am speaking here, not just as a leader of the PDP, but one of the beneficiaries of the PDP’s 16 years government of doing what is right,” he said.
To buttress his assertion that the judiciary was independent when the PDP controlled power at the centre, he recalled how the APC National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, and himself regained their governorship mandates even as candidates of small opposition parties.
Oshiomhole, according to him, was the biggest beneficiary of an independent judiciary that was made possible through PDP’s neutrality.
The PDP had denied Oshiomhole his governorship victory in 2007, while Obi’s was stolen by the PDP in 2003.
But their mandates were eventually restored by the Supreme Court.
Oshiomhole was then in the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) while Obi was in the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).
He said: “I was in a minority party, I won election and PDP did not intervene. I went to court, PDP did not intervene. I benefited from it.
“Adams Oshiomhole wouldn’t have been governor for eight years; he wouldn’t have been a beneficiary of the judiciary if the PDP did what APC is doing today. He benefited from it.
“So as a beneficiary, I am appealing to the judiciary to save this country. What happened in Imo State is enough to kill our democracy. Let us ensure that the judiciary is the last hope of the common man. My appeal to APC, is, please, do not kill this democracy.”
A number of the party’s National Assembly members, former governors, and former federal legislators also participated in the Abuja protest.
There was however a mild scar during the protest when one of the open trucks conveying some of the protesters skidded off the road and fell on its side.
A few persons were said to have been injured in the accident described by the organisers as minor.
