Protesters, on Monday, stormed the ongoing Nigerian Bar Association (NBA)’s annual general conference at the International Conference Centre in Enugu State over the incarceration of Bright Ngene, the winner of the recent rerun election in Enugu South Urban State Constituency in the state.
Victory in jail
PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), last Tuesday, declared Mr Ngene of the Labour Party (LP) as the winner of the rerun election held in the constituency, despite serving a jail term in Enugu State.
An Enugu South Magistrate Court had sentenced him to seven years’ imprisonment on 28 July 2024 over a communal crisis.
His victory at the rerun election despite being in jail came after third consecutive disruptions of previous elections since February 2024.
The lawmaker-elect was billed to receive his certificate of return from INEC on 22 August, but did not do so because of his incarceration.
Protest
Hundreds of the protesters, believed to be Mr Ngene’s supporters, carried placards while moving around the conference venue.
Some placards had inscriptions such as “NBA please help release Barr to represent his constituency,” “Say no to miscarriage of justice,” and “Free the people’s choice.”
The spokesperson of the protesting group, Benedict Kachukwu, told reporters that the continued incarceration of Mr Ngene despite winning the rerun election from jail on 16 August amounted to “grave injustice and a subversion of democracy.”
“We are here to register our peaceful protest to tell the world what has been happening in Enugu State for the past one year. Since 28 July 2024, Hon. Bright Emeka Ngene, who won the House of Assembly seat for Enugu South Urban, has been unjustly incarcerated,” Mr Kachukwu said.
“(The) charges against him were baseless, judicial processes were not followed, and in less than two weeks, judgement was dispensed.
“Efforts to get the matter before the High Court have proved abortive as judges continue to recuse themselves, while the chief judge has refused to assign the case. This is the highest point of injustice meted out to anybody,” he lamented.
The protesters accused the Enugu State judiciary of bowing to political pressure, alleging that unnamed officials of the Enugu State Government were behind Mr Ngene’s prolonged imprisonment.
They appealed to the NBA and lawyers attending the conference to intervene and ensure due process.
“We are not afraid of going through the judicial process. No matter the judgement that comes, we will accept it in good faith.
“But up till now, the case has been in a comatose (state) at the High Court. All we are asking is that the judiciary be allowed to do its job,” Mr Kachukwu added.
The peaceful protest drew the attention of some conference delegates and passersby along the busy road leading to the conference venue.
Background
INEC had declared the LP’s Mr Ngene winner of the election held for the constituency on 18 March 2023, but a tribunal nullified his election in September of that year, before ordering a rerun election within 90 days.
The PDP candidate in the election, Sam Ngene, challenged Mr Ngene’s election at the tribunal.
The LP candidate won in all the rerun elections, including the one ordered by the Court of Appeal. But the polls were all cancelled afterwards.
Even the rerun election held on 16 August 2025 initially looked set to be declared inconclusive after polling officials failed to produce sensitive election materials, including result sheets, which appeared to make the exercise impossible.
The LP’s Mr Ngene was convicted in the heat of his repeated victories in the cancelled rerun elections.
He was sentenced to a seven-year jail term by the Enugu South Magistrate, E. D. Onwu.
The LP candidate was first arraigned in 2017 alongside two others by the police in Enugu State over the alleged theft of N15 million belonging to Akwuke, a community in Enugu South Local Government Area of the state.
The matter had not come up since 2017, when Mr Ngene served as legal counsel to his Akwuke Community in Enugu State.
The matter was later referred to Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).
However, after Mr Ngene’s initial election victory in 2023, the magistrate who had earlier transferred the case to ADR revisited the case, explaining that he was under instruction to conclude the matter.
Observers say the prosecution and hurried conviction of the LP candidate were politically motivated.