Tukur calls Baraje and co, imposters.
The national chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Bamanga Tukur, has begun the process of implementing the threat he issued on Wednesday against the rival National Executive officials of the party under Abubakar Baraje, by instituting a court case against some of them at an Abuja High Court on Wednesday.
Mr. Tukur had, while addressing a press conference at the National Secretariat of the party, stated that Mr. Baraje and his group are impostors and would be made to face the full wrath of the law.
Mr. Tukur said, “Any person who is not duly elected into any leadership position in our great party and has not been duly assigned any role but goes ahead to arrogate such to himself will be made to face the full wrath of the law”.
Apart from Mr. Tukur’s suit in Abuja, some party members loyal to the embattled chairman also filed a similar suit in Lagos.
On Wednesday, a suit was instituted by Adebayo Dayo and Semiu Sodipo for themselves and on behalf of Executive Committee of the PDP in Ogun State, urging the court to convict former Osun State Governor and National Secretary of the new faction, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, to prison for one year.
The suit, with the number FHC/ABJ/50412013, also asked the court to convict the chairman of the new faction, Mr. Baraje, and his deputy, Sam Jaja, for the same offence.
In Mr. Tukur’s suit instituted at the Abuja High Court, the applicants want the court to jail Mr. Oyinlola and the rest for contempt. He alleged that they committed a contempt against the court in its judgement of January 11.
Mr. Tukur is also seeking the relief for an order of the court nullifying the appointment of Mr. Oyinlola as national secretary of the PDP.
In the same vein, another counsel to Mr. Tukur, Ajibola Oluyede, who addressed newsmen in his office in Lagos on Wednesday said he also had the authority of the PDP Chairman to file another suit before a Lagos High Court, sitting in Ikeja, asking it to throw out the suit brought before it by the Baraje group against Mr. Tukur and the other NWC members under him for lack of jurisdiction.
Mr. Tukur stated through his counsel Mr. Oluyede that Mr. Oyinlola was sacked through the order of the court. He also argued that the suit against became imperative because he had failed to abide by the procedure the court laid down by which he could reclaim his seat as the national secretary of the party.
Mr. Oluyede said infighting in parties could not pose a danger to democracy, but flouting the constitution and order and judgment of court was the real danger that must be avoided.
“It is normal to have alliance in democracy as long as there is room for freedom of speech and association, but what they failed to realise is the need to play the game according to rules and the need to respect established institutions in the country,” he said.
He declared that what Mr. Baraje and co. did was tantamount to planning a coup d’etat.
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