Group protests against Court of Appeal verdict
People Democratic Party (PDP) Women Leader in Nasarawa State, Stella Oboshi, has condemned the alleged attack by the military on women protesters in Lafia, yesterday.
Oboshi regretted the undemocratic action of the army formation on harmless and unarmed widows, who were only out to express their displeasure over the Court of Appeal nullification of the tribunal judgment that declared David Ombugadu winner of the March 18 governorship election.
Addressing journalists at the PDP secretariat in Lafia, she said: “What the army did to women, who were on peaceful protest, is not just sad but barbaric.
“The army authority should not keep mute, but sanction those who carried out that attack on women. We had the police and other security operatives with us and we were only on peaceful protest without disturbing or saying anything bad about anybody, when the army just drove into their crowd and started beating up the women and wounded some.”She insisted that the attack and intimidation would not stop the women from exercising their constitutional right of peaceful protest.
Meanwhile, the 4 Special Force Command, Doma, has denied responsibility for the attack.
PDP supporters, yesterday, commenced state-wide protest following the Court of Appeal judgment that nullified the victory of their governorship candidate, David Ombugadu.
In an address, a PDP group led by Adamu Davidson described what happened at the appellate court as laughable and unsustainable. “We believe that this judgment falls short of real democratic principles that govern our nation, especially the principle of majority rule. It is disheartening to witness a decision that seems to shield the insincerity of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to prove their irregularities, thereby questioning the credibility of our electoral process.
“We wish to highlight specific instances of irregularities that were overlooked by the tribunal under the guise of technicalities. In Gayam Ward of Lafia Local Council, for instance, the total number of accredited voters was recorded as 13,000, while an astonishing 33,000 votes were given to the APC alone.
Similarly, in Chiroma ward, the number of accredited voters was documented as 21,000, but INEC announced a staggering 59,000 votes solely for the APC,” Davidson said.
According to him, these discrepancies, among others, were conveniently shielded by the appellate court judgment completely disregarding the fundamental principles and integrity of the country’s electoral system.
