Press Statement
Houston, Texas, USA
January 19, 2020
Diasporans for PDP Condemns the APC Supreme Court’s Coup d’État in Imo State
A US-based organization of diaspora Nigerian members of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has declared the recent decision of the All Progressives Congress (APC)’s Supreme Court in Nigeria to unseat the duly elected governor, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, of Imo State and install the APC candidate who clearly lost the March 9, 2019 gubernatorial election in the state, as a coup d’état and a dangerous political manoeuvre that subverts the decision of the people of Imo State.
In a press statement to pronounce the organization’s complete rejection of the awful January 14 decision of the APC’s Supreme Court in Nigeria, Diasporans for PDP Founder and National Chair Hon. Victoria Pamugo stated that the organization lends a strong voice to the parent organization's January 16 press statement that “the judgment of the Supreme Court voiding the lawful election of Hon. Emeka Ihedioha (who scored 276,404 votes) and awarding fictitious votes to declare Hope Uzodimma of the APC (who scored 96,458 votes) as governor of Imo State, is highly irrational, unfounded, a provocative product of executive manipulation and a recipe for crisis, which should not be allowed to stand.”
“This action of the court damages the reputation of the judiciary. It is shameful that the Supreme Court decided to make itself an extension of the ruling APC by engaging in this clear act of partisanship that completely goes against the decision of the people of Imo State, instead of standing up for the independence of the judiciary,” Hon. Pamugo lamented.
“In my entire life, I have never seen anything like this. It is shameful that the Supreme Court can be used in this manner to achieve the partisan goals of the ruling party. This kind of nonsense can never happen in a true democracy. It hurts me that instead of growing in the practice of democracy, APC continues to take Nigeria backward into a full totalitarian state,” she decried.
In the wake of the March 9, 2019 election, it is a matter of public record that Imo State came out with a total accredited vote of 823,743, a total valid vote of 739,485, and a total cancelled vote of 25,130.
But in order to support their March 14, 2020 crooked decision to install the APC candidate who came fourth in the March 9, 2019 election in Imo State, the Supreme Court increased the total vote to 950,952, which represents 127,209 votes in excess of total accredited votes of 823,743.
“It is obvious that those guys sat in Abuja and manufactured these results in order to put their own man in power in Imo State, which they did not come any close to winning in the March 2019 election,” Hon. Pamugo said.
“That is why we call on the people of Imo and lovers of democracy across Nigeria to reject this coup d’état that has no place in the governance of a civilized state, because if it is allowed to stand, no state will be spared in the future, including Kano, Sokoto, Benue, Bauchi, Adamawa, Plateau and others where a decision is pending,” Hon. Pamugo said.
“This miscarriage of justice is a slap in the face of justice and every lover of democracy, be it in Nigeria or elsewhere, must reject it,” she said.
"We join the lovers of democracy who are protesting against this embarrassing decision across the nation in demanding that the Supreme Court quickly rescind this unpopular and unacceptable verdict to avoid creating a very wrong and unjust judicial precedence," Hon. Pamugo demanded.
Diasporans for PDP is a registered non-profit organization based in the United States of America, with members from many countries, including Austria, Canada, Germany, Japan, Kenya, Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom and United States of America.
For more information, visit www.pdpdiasporainitiative.com.
Signed:
Chidi Igwe
National Publicity Secretary
Diasporans for PDP