By Babatope Julius and Dankogi Isa
It is pertinent to acknowledge your dogged commitment to re-position our great party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to its winning ways after the storm that shook the party. We salute your leadership in this regards.
However, our esteem members of the National Working Committee (NWC), we draw your attention to the abnormality in Kogi State. In 2008, a state congress to elect party state executive council members took place in Lokoja, where Alhaji Hassan Salawu emerged party chairman alongside others.
This congress was not accepted by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
PDP had in a letter through its then acting National Chairman, Dr Bello Haliru Mohammed, entitled “inconclusive PDP congress” dated June 8, 2010, to INEC, seeking clarification of inconclusiveness of PDP congresses and wanted the electoral body’s ratification of the congress conducted in Kano, Kogi, Zamfara and Kastina states. But in a reply dated June 23, 2010 reference number:
INEC/MXL/PDP/0241V0/161, then INEC Secretary AbdulalahiKaugama said the congresses were not acceptable to INEC as they did not follow due process.
While thanking the party for updating the commission on the state of congresses that were inconclusive as at 2008, the INEC secretary gave the status of the respective congresses as per available records with the commission.
On the state of the congresses in Bayelsa, Iro, Kogi, Oyo and Plateau states, Kaugama said the congresses were not acceptable to INEC as they failed to meet the requirement of PDP Constitution and guideline for congress. Taking a pro-active step, then NCW ordered a repeat congress.
Prince UcheSecondus (then National Organizing Sec) wrote to Kogi stateS.S.SJC.P and INEC on December 7, 2010 introducing and informing theagencies that Senator SylvanusNgele& Patience Ofowe are chairman andsecretary, respectively, of the repeat congress in Kogi state slated for December 9, 2010.
The local organizing committee was led by Alh. Musa Ibrahim Ahmadau Our great party is alive to the celebrated case of BubaMarwa v. Ibrahim Idris& Others (2012) 6 NWLR, 199 where the Supreme Court interpreted the issue of tenure to include all the time and period enjoyed and utilized by the occupant of any position from the date of his original swearing in. Furthermore, the court held that in a re-run election won by the same person who had previously occupied that position prior to nullification, his tenure dates back to the time he was first sworn into office and not the subsequent swearing in.
It is worthwhile to further note the wise words per Musdapher CJN (as he then was) at page 294: “Where a person who won a nullified election and a fresh election are the same person and there was no handing over from any predecessor to a successor, whatever has caused the election to be annulled, a party shall not be allowed to profit from an illegality, that is, having an extension of time of a term of office by the use of the second set of oaths since there was no change in the party that won the election, then the term of office ought to be seen as a continuation of the annulled election”.
A simple arithmetic shows clearly that from 2008 when Hassan Salawu&
others took first oath office to 2014 is 6 years; six years spent and still counting for a constitutional tenure of 4 years?
When will this over-time or extra-time be over?
Nelson Mandela said that “it is better to help a friend pay his fine than to tell lie to help cover a crime.”
You may recall the legal tribulations PDP suffered in the past due to leadership gap. PDP lost 5 governorship elections (Kogi, Bayelsa, Cross River, Adamawa and Sokoto) because we failed to adjust to the cardinal principle of rule of law occasioned by illegal tenure elongation.
PDP also lost won elections through judicial process in Oyo, Osun, Ekiti and Ondo states which we are still battling to win back.
This is the main reason we are writing this open letter to the working committee to take a pro-active measure to dissolve and order fresh election to re-constitute the state Exco of our great party, rather than creating an alibi for our detractors to lay ambush for our would be hard earned victory in court.
Jonathan/Sambo and other deserving candidates of our party envisaged victory at both primary and general elections should not be compromised or endangered through the vagaries of judicial uncertainty to satisfy Hassan Salawu.
PDP cannot put something on nothing, and expect it to stay.You should encourage leaders to emerge who will not confuse public office with source of making personal wealth. A stich in time saves 9!
Julius and Isah are secretary and coordinator, respectively, Jonathan/Sambo Achievers Group
