Governor Okezie Ikpeazu
Abia women of Ukwa Ngwa bloc yesterday staged a peaceful demonstration at Aba to protest against last week’s upturning of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu’s declared victory at the polls by the Owerri Division of Appeal Court in favour of his APGA opponent, Dr. Alex Otti.
The women, who marched along the major streets of the town, carried placards with inscriptions “Do not disenfranchise us”, “Abia women say it is Okezie Ikpeazu or no Abia” and “Okezie Ikpeazu is our Mandate”.
Addressing the protesters yesterday, Chairman of the State Marketing Agency, Mrs. Uwaoma Olewengwa; former State Women Affairs Commissioner, Dr. Elizabeth Esochaghi and Commissioner for Women Affairs, Lady Chinedu Brown, asserted that Abians massively voted for Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on the election day.
They said cancelling the votes cast in three local councils of the state is tantamount to disenfranchising over 300,000 voters. They, therefore, appealed to the Supreme Court to reverse the Court of Appeal judgment in favour of Governor Ikpeazu.
Meanwhile, the police had stationed its personnel at strategic points in Aba to prevent the protest going violent. The same scenario featured in Umuahia, the state capital, which had earlier been speculated to be the next place the protest would hold after that of Aba.
The state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Habila Joshak, had in a statement issued by the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Onyeke Udeviotu, warned the public to desist from any act that could cause a breakdown of law and order, saying that the police had already directed all its personnel in the state to bring the law to bear on violators.
The statement read: “The issues relating to the verdict of the Court of Appeal decision on the Abia State gubernatorial election are purely legal issues, which should be handled by the court and not on the streets through protests/demonstrations.
“The State Police Command is aware of plans by a group of people in the state to engage in protest/demonstration to express their displeasure with the decision of the Court of Appeal and another group who applaud the decision of the Court of Appeal on the Abia State gubernatorial election.”