Halts party’s National Convention Judgement not binding – PDP
By Emeka Nze and Vivian Okeje
Abuja
The cloud uncertainty hovering around the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), yesterday got foggy as a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, declared as null and void the party’s National Convention held on May 21, this year, in Port Harcourt, the Rivers state capital.
It was at that convention that the National Working Committee of the party, led by former Senator Ali Modu Sheriff was dissolved and a caretaker committee, led by former Kaduna state Governor, Senator Ahmed Markarfi, was constituted.Sheriff, a one-time governor of Borno state, had since then been challenging his removal and insisted he remained the legitimate leader of the nation’s leading opposition party.
But ruling in a fresh case brought before his court yesterday, Justice Okon Abang said, the May 21 Convention was illegal and that Makarfi’s committee was unlawfully constituted.
Justice Abang gave the ruling while determining the rightful counsel to represent the PDP in the new case.
Sheriff is asking the court to determine whether his replacement by Makarfi was lawful or an abuse of court orders.
The Lagos Division of the Federal High Court had issued an order restraining the PDP from conducting election into the offices of its national chairman, national secretary and national auditor.
The ruling by Justice Ibrahim Buba was made sequel to an application brought by Sheriff and his colleagues who occupied those positions. The application was intended to prevent elections of new party leaders at the May 21 Convention.
But on May 21, the PDP held its convention in Port Harcourt where Makarfi was appointed to lead a caretaker committee, a development that sparked a fresh round of crisis in the party, with Sheriff insisting that he remains the legitimate chairman of the fold.
The two contenders sent two different lawyers to Justice Abang’s court yesterday, both claiming to represent the national chairman of the party, and argued for over seven hours.
The court listened to the two lawyers, Ferdinand Obi and Adeniyi Akintola, SAN, to enable it to determine who should be the right claimant as PDP representative in the matter.
Giving his ruling, Abang ruled that in determining who should be the rightful counsel to the PDP, it was necessary to decide whether the caretaker committee, led by Makarfi, was rightly constituted or not.
“The Convention was unlawfully held and the caretaker committee was unlawfully constituted,” he ruled.
“If the Markarfi-led faction, as an apostle of impunity, missed its way to the Port Harcourt division of the FHC, the court cannot be said to have acted within its legal jurisdiction in entertaining the matter,” the judge ruled, urging politicians to desist from creating confusion for judges.
Obi, who represented the Makarfi faction, argued that it was illegal for the Deputy National Legal Adviser of the Sheriff faction, Bashir Maidugu, to file the suit and then also receive court processes on behalf of his faction.
“The plaintiff has no authority to receive documents for PDP, whom he has sued as the second defendant,” he said.
He further cited a previous ruling by the Port Harcourt Division of the FHC, which ruled that the decisions taken at the May 21 Convention were completely legal.
The judge also added that the court held in that judgement that nothing in the decision of the convention amounted to an abuse of the law.
But responding, Akintola, who represented the Sheriff faction, said his client received the processes for the matter as part of his official responsibility as a legal officer representing the PDP.
“I submit that the plaintiff has power to act in plural capacity. He is a lawyer and the legal officer for the PDP,” he said.
He added that the previous case cited by Obi did not make categorical statement as to who should represent the PDP, adding that the decision of his client to act in his statutory position should not amount to an abuse of law.
“We urge the court to hold that we are counsel for the PDP and that my learned brother should cease to appear for the PDP,” Akintola submitted.
In his ruling, Justice Abang noted that there was an order restraining the party from conducting election into the offices of national chairman, national secretary and auditor pending the hearing and determination of a substantive suit at the Lagos Decision of the
Federal High Court.
“Where the court in Port Harcourt had no jurisdiction for entertaining such matters, a court of coordinate jurisdiction has legal prerogative to nullify the decision reached at the Port Harcourt division of the court,” he said.
Responding, Obi prayed the court for an adjournment, saying the issues raised were weighty and important for the determination of the matter.
“They should, therefore, not be resolved hastily,” he said.
Responding, Justice Abang said the May 21 Convention was held despite the decision of the court, and that the Port Harcourt division wrongly assumed jurisdiction which led to the July 4 judgement that nullified the decision of the Lagos Division of the court.
He, therefore, ruled that the decision of Obi to ask for adjournment rather than respond to the question posed to him was not meritorious and therefore his prayer for adjournment refused.
But the PDP is insisting that the judgement of the Port Harcourt Division of the court was clear, and warned the trial judge not to truncate the nation’s democracy.
While coming hard on the jurist, it also threatened to go ahead with the convention, saying the judgement was not binding as the Makarfi-led committee remains valid.
Justice Abang’s judgement, the party said, is “objectionable, questionable and very strange in the history of Nigeria Judiciary,” even as it said the judge has penchant for abuse of court processes and actions of legal impunity.
The party, in a statement by its spokesman, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, declared that Justice Abang’s ruling amounted to sitting on an Appeal over the Court of competent and coordinate jurisdiction, saying this makes his interlocutory Order very strange.
The statement further said: “We have just received information that Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court in Abuja has granted an Order of interlocutory injunction stopping our scheduled National Convention in Port Harcourt, Rivers state, but we want to state that the judgment of the 4th of July, 2016 supersedes any ex-parte Order or Interlocutory Injunctions. So, our National convention will hold as scheduled in Port Harcourt, Rivers state.”
“Let Nigerians recall the two former judgments before the Port Harcourt Judgment, declared that Senator Sheriff is not qualified to be a National Chairman given that the PDP Constitution 2014 which he claimed brought him to power is not in existence and therefore, null and void.
“The PDP wants Nigerians to know that Justice Okon Abang is deliberately engaging in acts of derailing the country’s democracy given the fact that his Court is not an Appeal Court that can set aside any Judgment.
He has penchant for abuse of court processes and actions of legal impunity.
“This judge, Nigerians will recall, issued judgment against the governor of Abia state that led to INEC re-issuing another Certificate of Return to a man who did not contest election, thereby causing unnecessary hardship on the people of that state. He also issued an order to INEC to recognise Senator Sheriff’s candidates in Edo and Ondo states before they could even plan their purported congress in Edo.
“In today’s case, this same Judge out rightly denied the PDP representation in Court which is unheard of by serving the Plaintiff; Sheriff & Co who instituted the Case also as PDP (defendants). His excesses are extremely absurd, strange and unbecoming of a judge who
enjoys putting the judiciary on the spot.
“We, therefore, bring this matter before the highest level of Judiciary in the Country to stop
this Judge forthwith from waging war against the PDP.
“We are equally calling on Nigerians and the international community to compel Nigeria Judiciary to address Justice Abang’s excesses before he kills our hard earned democracy.
“However, the Party is law abiding and therefore, will apply for stay of execution of this order and also appeal it.
“The party calls on all its members and teaming supporters nationwide to remain calm and law abiding and be rest assured that the PDP National Convention will hold as scheduled and all preparation towards the August 17, 2016 National Convention remains the same,” the statement said.
