Court stops PDP convention

The Federal High Court in Abuja has stopped the planned national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

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Judge James Omotosho ruled that the planning for the national convention scheduled to hold in Ibadan, Oyo State, between 15 and 16 November violated the Nigerian constitution, guidelines of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as well as the PDP constitution.

Vanguard newspaper reported that the court cited the party’s failure to conduct valid state congresses before it moved to hold the convention to elect its national officers.

The judge therefore ordered the party to do the needful by meeting the prerequisite conditions before planning for the congress.

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He also ordered the PDP to send the statutory 21-day notice for the convention before proceeding with the proposed convention.

The court earlier dismissed the preliminary objections filed by the defendants to challenge its jurisdiction to intervene in what they insisted was an internal affair of a political party.

The claimants are the chairperson of the Imo State chapter of the party, Austin Nwachukwu; his Abia State counterpart, Amah Nnanna; and the party’s Secretary for the South-South zone, Turnah George.

The nine defendants sued in the suit are the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC); the PDP; and the party’s National Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu.

Others are the National Organising Secretary, Umar Bature; the National Working Committee (NWC); the National Executive Committee (NEC); the acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum; and two members of the party, Ali Odefa and Emmanuel Ogidi.

The court earlier on 16 October ordered parties to maintain the status quo.

Arguments

The judge had on 21 October heard the parties and fixed Friday for judgement.

Arguing the plaintiffs’ case, their lawyer, Joseph Daudu, also a SAN, urged the court not to treat their complaints as internal affairs of the party but as an effort to enforce compliance with the Nigerian Constitution, the Electoral Act 2022, and the PDP constitution.

He argued that the Nigerian Constitution made it mandatory for the INEC to monitor political parties’ congresses before they can be deemed valid.

He said the plaintiffs’ key complaint was that no valid congresses were held in 14 states before the PDP’s NWC and NEC issued the notice for the planned convention.

The PDP national chairman’s lawyer, Paul Erokoro, also a SAN, asked the judge to decline jurisdiction, arguing that issues concerning conventions and congresses are internal party matters. Lawyer to the party’s NWC and NEC, Eyitayo Jegede, a SAN, aligned with that position, insisting that the court cannot interfere in the internal affairs of a political party.