Barr. Bright Ngene,
Despite being behind bars, Bright Ngene remains the chosen representative of his people.
Declared the winner twice for the Enugu South Urban 1 State Constituency seat, the Labour Party lawmaker’s imprisonment widely dismissed by supporters as politically motivated, has ignited protests, judicial controversies and raised serious questions about the independence of Nigeria’s judiciary.
On Monday, August 25, 2025, a large crowd of residents from Enugu South Urban 1 stormed the International Conference Centre in Enugu, where the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) was holding its international conference, to protest Ngene’s continued detention.
The protesters accused the Peter Mbah-led administration of orchestrating what they termed a politically motivated imprisonment of Ngene, who was elected under the Labour Party but allegedly declined to defect to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Enugu State.
Ngene was sentenced on July 28, 2024, by Magistrate E. D. Onwu of the Enugu South Magistrate Court to seven years in prison over a scandal related to a community development fund.
His supporters believe this incarceration is a ploy to remove him from the state Assembly after he rejected Governor Mbah’s alleged offer to switch allegiance to the PDP.
At the NBA conference venue, protesters chanted slogans demanding justice and judicial independence, holding placards that read: “NBA Please Save Our Democracy,” “Enugu State Judiciary Must be Independent from Executive,” “Oppression is injustice, free Barr Bright Ngene,” “NBA, It’s Bright Ngene today. It could be any Lawyer Tomorrow,” and “Injustice to one Lawyer is injustice to all Lawyers.”
Benedict Kachukwu, spokesperson for the protesters, said, “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 the 28th of July, 2024, Hon Bright Emeka Ngene, who won the House of Assembly seat for Enugu South Urban 1, was unjustly incarcerated.”
He added, “Charges that were placed on him were baseless, the judicial process was not followed, and in less than two weeks judgment was dispensed in a criminal matter. And the man has been in detention since then.”
Kachukwu also highlighted the difficulties in pursuing legal remedies: “Efforts to get the matter to the High Court have proved abortive because somehow judges are now recusing themselves from the case. The Chief Judge has refused to assign the case to a new judge or take up the case.”
He continued, “So ever since then, this man, Hon Bright Ngene, has been in detention for no just cause, the powers that be in the state have denied him judicial process, all because he won an election, an election he won on a free ground where the people of Enugu South Urban 1 gave him their mandate freely.”
Kachukwu stressed that Ngene’s mandate was reaffirmed during a by-election on August 16 in some polling units.
“We are not afraid of due judicial process,” he said, “and we have repeatedly urged the state’s Chief Judge to assign the case, regardless of what the eventual judgment might be.”
“But up till now we have not seen, we have not heard anything, and the case has been in a comatose state at the State High Court.”
He recalled a specific incident: “Several judges have recused themselves. I recall on the 11th of March 2025, one of the judges called for the judgment from the Magistrate Court, but on the day of the sitting, he said that he was recusing himself from the case. He did not give any reason for that.”
He lamented, “And ever since then, the case has not been assigned to any judge. That means the man has been languishing in jail for nothing.”
“We have written to every organ of the NBA as we speak, but there has not been any kind of response from them. So, we have done all we can do; we decided to resort to coming here (NBA conference venue) to beg. We are not here to fight, we are not here to quarrel, we are here to beg, please let this man be freed so that he can represent the people that voted him in the House of Assembly,” he concluded.
On March 23, 2023, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Bright Ngene of the Labour Party the winner of the Enugu South Urban 1 State Constituency seat with 5,862 votes, defeating PDP’s Samuel Ngene, who scored 2,098 votes, a margin of 3,764 votes.
The PDP candidate challenged this result at the State Assembly Election Petition Tribunal, which nullified the election and ordered reruns in eight polling units with 4,257 eligible voters where the election was not held during the March 18 poll.
INEC attempted to conduct the rerun elections thrice on February 3, February 14, and June 8, 2024, but the Labour Party resisted what they alleged were attempts to manipulate the process.
Meanwhile, the PDP, despite support from the state government, struggled to mobilize voters.
Shortly after this resistance, Ngene’s old community dispute was revived, widely viewed as an attempt to sideline him and pave the way for the PDP in future reruns.
After spending 15 months in detention, INEC held a by-election on August 19, 2025, for the constituency.
Despite a heavy security presence, no voters turned out before polls closed.
Still, INEC declared Bright Ngene the winner of the rerun.
Sam Olumekun, INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information & Voter Education Committee, said, “Two re-run elections by order of the Election Petition Appeal Tribunals were held in Enugu and Kano states.”
“After previous disruptions of the elections in the two states by violence and thuggery, the elections have now been concluded. Declaration and return were made by the Returning Officers. For the Enugu South 1 State Constituency of Enugu State, Ngene Bright Emeka of the Labour Party was declared winner.”
Ngene served as secretary and legal advisor for a sub-committee managing finances for his community, Akwuke, known for sand excavation in Enugu State.
The community collected tolls from tipper drivers, but road dilapidation became an issue.
To fix the road, Ngene was tasked with paying about N11 million to a contractor, according to handover documents.
However, in 2017, a petition accused Ngene and his associate John Ewoh of theft and conspiracy, likely stemming from a faction within the community leadership.
Police investigations led to charges being filed against Ngene. Initially, the case received little attention until mid-2022 when Ngene emerged as a candidate for the state House of Assembly.
The case was initially handled by Chief A.O. Eze but was later transferred to Magistrate E.D. Onwu following Eze’s retirement.
As Ngene’s political ambitions grew, the case took on a new urgency.
Ngene’s legal counsel petitioned the state Chief Judge to transfer the case to another magistrate, which was granted, moving the case to Magistrate I.M. Mamah, who recommended alternative dispute resolution (ADR).
Confusion arose when another letter from the Deputy High Court Registrar, N. Chijioke Agbo, purportedly approved by the Chief Judge, ordered the case back to Onwu’s court.
The Chief Judge later clarified that Mamah was in charge, but in December 2023, another letter again returned the case to Onwu, with no further clarification.
Things accelerated after Onwu resumed hearing the case, with increasingly shorter adjournments.
This prompted Ngene’s counsel to petition the Chief Judge about the magistrate’s conduct, but the plea was ignored.
An ex parte order from the High Court compelled Onwu to recuse himself, but Onwu demanded to see the actual order before complying.
The order was delayed under various pretexts, with the file reportedly taken by Deputy Registrar N. Chijioke Agbo.
Ngene’s counsel petitioned the National Judicial Council (NJC), which requested the magistrate’s recusal, but Onwu allegedly refused.
Even after the Akwuke Town Union, the complainant, sought to withdraw the case, Onwu insisted the trial continue, claiming only the state’s Attorney General could drop the charges.
“The blind could see what was about to happen,” said Okechukwu Ogbodo, an observer of the case.
Ngene’s counsel filed a suit asking Onwu to step aside. On June 28, 2024, Onwu abruptly delivered judgment without allowing time for written submissions, sentencing Ngene and Ewoh to seven years imprisonment, four years for theft and three for conspiracy.
Governor Mbah’s Senior Special Assistant on Media, Uche Anichukwu, said Ngene’s community held a counter-protest disassociating the government from interference.
Anichukwu promised a formal response to the allegations but had not provided one at the time of this report, stating, “We are at a function and will proceed to Niger Gas from there. I’ll try and do a written response in the course of the programmes.”
