Confusion pervaded the national headquarters of the Peoples Democratic Party in Abuja on Monday evening when words filtered in that a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has stopped the party from conducting elections into the offices of the national chairman of the party, the national secretary and its national auditor, Punch reports.
The court has also restrained the Independent National Electoral Commission from monitoring the conduct of any election into the offices.
PDP is planning to hold its national convention in Port Harcourt, Rivers State on Saturday, May 21.
The order to restrain the party from conducting the elections followed a case brought before the court by the National Chairman of the party, Senator Modu Sheriff; the National Secretary, Prof. Wale Oladipo; and the National Auditor, Alhaji Fatai Adeyanju, who were listed as 1st, 2nd and 3rd plaintiffs in the case.
In the case with suit number FHC/L/CS/61 3/2016, dated 6th of May, 2016, both the INEC and the PDP were listed as the 1st and 2nd defendants.
The plaintiffs prayed for an order of interlocutory injunction restraining the 2nd defendant from conducting any election into the offices of the National Chairman, National Secretary and National Auditor occupied by the 1st, 2nd and 3rd plaintiffs respectively, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.
An order of interlocutory injunction restraining the 1st defendant/respondent from monitoring and or recognising the conduct of any election by the 2nd defendant/respondent into the offices of the National Chairman, National Secretary and National Auditor occupied by the 1st, 2nd and 3rd plaintiffs respectively, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.
According to the court order dated May 12, 2016 which was shown to reporters at the party secretariat in Abuja, the affidavit in support of the Motion on Notice and the exhibits attached were deposed to by Adeyanju.
In response to the submission made by the plaintiffs’ counsel, the court presided over by Justice I.N. Buba, granted the following: “An order of interlocutory injunction as requested by the plaintiffs/applicants restraining the 2nd defendant/respondent from conducting any election into the offices of the National Chairman, National Secretary and National Auditor occupied by the 1st, 2nd and 3rd plaintiffs respectively, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.
“An order of interlocutory injunction to the plaintiffs/applicants restraining the 1st defendant/respondent from monitoring and or recognising the conduct of any the 2nd defendant/respondent into the offices of the National Chairman, National Secretary and National Auditor occupied by the 1st, 2nd and 3rd plaintiffs respectively, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.”
The substantive case has been adjourned till May 24, 2016.
Efforts made by our correspondent to get the reaction of the party’s National Legal Adviser, Mr. Victor Kwon, failed as he did not pick the calls made to his telephone.
But the national secretary said the party was aware of the court order.
Oladipo told our correspondent that the party’s legal department was handling the case.
However, a similar court injunction stopping the conduct of the South-West zonal congress of the party last Saturday in Akure, was disregarded.
Oladipo dissociated the party from the Akure zonal congress, describing the event as the “gathering of merrymakers.”
He said, “You will see that the INEC was not at the event, which I can only describe as the gathering of merrymakers.
“Its outcome cannot hold and we have no hand in it. We have received the injunction on the election into the offices of the national chairman, secretary and the auditor as well.
“We are a law-abiding party. We won’t go against what the court says. We are abiding by that.”
__________
Follow us on Twitter at @thesignalng
Copyright 2015 SIGNAL. Permission to use portions of this article is granted provided appropriate credits are given to www.signalng.com and other relevant sources.
