From Jude Chinedu Enugu
All Progressives Congress (APC), Enugu State Chapter has vowed to do everything within its power to secure freedom for Bright Ngene, the candidate of the Labour Party during the last general election in Enugu South Urban State Constituency.
Ngene’s election was annulled and a rerun ordered by the Appeal Court. However, after three attempts the rerun in the constituency failed to hold.
In a sudden twist, Ngene was sent to prison by a magistrate court in Enugu to serve a 7-year jail term over his alleged involvement in a community matter.
Addressing journalists in front of the Enugu Correctional Service on Saturday, the chairman of APC in Enugu State, Ugochukwu Agballah said the judgement was unacceptable.
He expressed dismay that Ngene, whom he described as the presumed winner of the election, was sent to jail because he wanted to recover his mandate.
Agballah said he was mandated by the Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Uche Nnaji to find out what happened after meeting with Ngene.
He alleged that there was a plan by the Peoples Democratic Party cabal to stop the Labour Party candidate from actualizing his mandate.
“We are going to do everything to make sure that justice is done in the matter and whoever, no matter how highly placed that has a hand in this miscarriage of justice, will be brought to justice, because nobody is above the law, including judicial officers,” Agballah vowed.
He also said that the matter would be taken to the zonal leadership of APC and to President Bola Tinubu.
The APC chairman also disclosed that they would appeal the judgement, adding that they would not accept a rerun of the election in the absence of the jailed Labour Party candidate.
It could be recalled that the leadership of the Labour Party in Enugu had also kicked against the jail term handed to Ngene.
The party also wrote the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to suspend the planned rerun election in Ngene’s constituency to avoid giving the ruling party an advantage as a result of the judgment.
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