The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has reacted to the swearing-in of Edward Onoja as the Deputy Governor of Kogi State.
PDP dismissed the inauguration, which it described as “shadow” and a “complete nullity, which has no place under our laws.”
In a statement by its spokesperson, Kola Ologbondiyan, PDP insisted that Onoja’s inauguration was “scandalous to our judicial system.”
The opposition party said it was scandalous that the Chief Judge of Kogi State, Justice Nasir Ajana, whose panel acquitted the state deputy governor, Elder Simon Achuba, of any misconduct, suddenly flipped to conform with an odious plot by desperate Governor Yahaya Bello to forcefully remove the deputy governor.
The statement reads: “The action of the Kogi Chief Judge has heavily jeopardized the integrity of the judiciary and capable of bringing the institution to public disrepute if not immediately checked.
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“Our party insists that the Chief Judge of Kogi State, in staging an illegal inauguration of Edward Onoja, as a deputy governor, while the office has not become constitutionally vacant, amounts to gross misconduct, which cannot be accommodated under our laws.
“This is a clear demonstration of the reprehensible and sacrilegious design by Governor Yahaya Bello to entangle, drag down and corrupt the institution of the judiciary, cause a constitutional crisis, trigger mayhem and derail the smooth conduct of the November 16 governorship election in the state.
“This is because there is no way there can be two deputy governors in the same state, more so as the people of Kogi State had already registered
their anger and resentment against this illegality in the public space.”
The opposition party therefore called on the “Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mohammed Tanko, to take immediate steps to save Kogi State from a plunge into anarchy and chaos.
“Nigeria is a nation governed by law and nobody must be allowed to set aside our constitution and corrupt our democratic order for his or her selfish and repressive agenda,” the statement added.
