No Evil will go unpunished- Ihedioha reacts to Supreme Court’s refusal to review judgement
Former Imo state Governor, Emeka Ihedioha, in his reaction to the refusal of Supreme Court to review the judgement that sacked him, says he has accepted his fate.
“…let me leave them with the immortal words of the late journalist, Dele Giwa: “No evil deed will go unpunished; any evil done by man to man will be redressed; if not now then certainly later; if not by man, then by God for the victory of evil over good is temporary’,” He said.
The Supreme Court on March 3 dismissed an application filed by Emeka Ihedioha of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), asking it to set aside a judgement that declared Hope Uzodinma of the All Progressives Congress (APC) the Imo State governor.
With one out of seven justices dissenting, the court, led by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Tanko Mohammed, held that it lacked powers to sit on an appeal in its own judgment delivered on merit and in accordance with dictates of the law and justice.
Mr Ihedioha and the PDP had approached the court following its January 14 judgement that nullified Mr Ihedioha’s victory and declared Mr Uzodinma the winner of the election.
Mr Ihedioha was earlier declared the winner of the March 2019 election by the electoral umpire, INEC.
In the statement obtained by Politics Nigeria on Tuesday, Mr Ihedioha noted that the rejection dealt a great blow on himself and the party.
“This is certainly not the outcome we wanted or we worked so hard for and I know how disappointed you must feel. While it is disheartening to note that your desire to introduce good governance has been halted, at least for now, it is also gratifying that our modest efforts have not gone unnoticed. I therefore feel a sense of pride and gratitude for the wonderful energy and commitment that we deployed together to secure the mandate that has now been brazenly stolen from us.”
“Whatever may be the personal injury I suffer as a result of the miscarriage of justice, my main concern in this whole tragic episode is not about me. It has always been about the implications this judgement could have for the future of our democracy and the right of the electorate to have their votes count. If institutions that are critical to the entrenchment of rule of law could thwart the wishes of the people in a cynical manner, where lies the future of our democracy? That was why I sought a review of the Supreme Court judgement. Even though justice was not served at the end, the well-articulated dissenting judgement delivered by His Lordship, Justice Centus Nweze, has vindicated our stand. I am sure that history and posterity will be kind to him.”
“To those who are rejoicing about their successful political fraud at the expense of Imo people, as well as their collaborators, let me leave them with the immortal words of the late journalist, Dele Giwa: “No evil deed will go unpunished; any evil done by man to man will be redressed; if not now then certainly later; if not by man, then by God for the victory of evil over good is temporary’. We believe that God will render the ultimate judgment. He has been with us through this peaceful struggle. And our future is in His hands,” the statement read in parts.
