The Labour Party leadership is unhappy with the seven-year prison sentence given to their candidate, Bright Ngene, for his involvement in a community issue. They have asked the Independent National Electoral Commission to postpone the upcoming election in Ngene’s constituency to prevent the ruling party from benefiting from the judgment.
Ngene, along with two others, was charged by the Enugu State Police Command in 2017 for a case related to a N15 million development fund in their community.
In the general elections of 2023, Bright Ngene emerged victorious against the candidate from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). However, the PDP contested Ngene’s win and raised objections. The election petition tribunal later ruled that the election was inconclusive and ordered a rerun to take place in eight specific polling units.
During a press conference held in Abuja, the National Working Committee of the Labour Party (LP), represented by the National Publicity Secretary Obiora Ifoh, expressed their concern about the recent ruling by the magistrate court.
The court sentenced Bright Ngene, the LP candidate, to a seven-year prison term. According to the LP, this ruling is seen as a deliberate scheme to prevent their candidate from participating in the scheduled rerun election.
He stated, “What we have seen in this matter is a manifestation of rot in the system which ordinarily should be protecting the ordinary man. The judiciary in Enugu has since unmasked itself and has assumed the position of an interested party.
“For our albatross, the only thing that can stop the Labour Party from coming out victorious is to conduct the election without our participation and the only way is to put away our candidate behind bars. It thus appears that this strategy has worked for the PDP. We are calling on Nigerians to rise against this assault on democracy being perpetuated in Enugu state.
“We strongly believe that our party and candidate did not get a fair hearing. As stated earlier, this matter has been pending for about seven years. But all of a sudden, the presiding magistrate reopened the matter and, within 24 hours, gave a ruling despite protestations by the defence counsel who fruitlessly dissuaded the magistrate to adjourn the matter to a later date for a fair hearing.”
He further noted, “In this case, there was no fine option. What is the motive behind the long sentencing? Why is there an urgency to imprison our candidate even when the NJC has accepted custody of the matter as requested by the candidate? Wouldn’t the parties have maintained the status quo pending the intervention of the NJC?
“Of course, being the minority, they wanted the majority presence in the state Assembly; by so doing, they would have secured the badly needed assurance of the safety of the executive. Labour Party has, of course, approached the courts to get those Assembly seats vacated in line with the constitution and electoral laws.
“We are at this point calling on the National Judicial Council to initiate a disciplinary action following Ngene’s petition for bringing the judiciary to opprobrium and disrepute. We also urge INEC to suspend any further action as regards the rerun of the Enugu South Rural Constituency election until further notice.
“This we believe, will not gift an undue advantage to a particular party over the rest pending the conclusion of the legal processes. INEC must ensure that the will of the people is respected,” he added.
