As the crisis rocking the once upon largest political party in Africa, PDP, keeps enlarging, a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, has restrained the National Executive Committee (NEC) and Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from removing Amb. Ilya Damagum as the Acting National Chairman of the party.
The court ordered that no other person must be recognized as PDP national chairman other than Damagum until the national convention of the party scheduled for December next year.
Delivering judgement in a suit instituted against them by Senator Umar El-Gash Maina, the presiding Judge, Justice Peter Lifu held that in line with Articles 42, 47 and 67 of the PDP, it is only at the National Convention of the party that national officers can be elected.
Justice Lifu said that PDP members are bound by the Constitution of the party and as such must always act in line with the provisions and obedience to the party’s law.
The plaintiff, Senator Maina who claimed to be Chairman of PDP in Yobe State, had instituted the suit against PDP and eight others alleging that some stakeholders of the party have been holding clandestine meetings to forcefully remove Damagum from office in gross violation of the party’s Constitution.
He said that a former Deputy Governor of Kogi State, Dr Phillip Omeiza Salawu was being pushed forward as a replacement for Damagun by the stakeholders.
In the suit instituted on his behalf by Joshua Musa, SAN, the plaintiff therefore prayed the court to invoke articles 45, 47 and 67 of PDP Constitution to stop the move to replace Damagum as the Acting National Chairman.
Justice Lifu also declared that any attempt to truncate the un-exhausted four years tenure of the northern region without the national convention of the party will amount to an affront to the Constitution of the PDP.
The e judge therefore dismissed the defendants argument t dismiss the suit on the grounds that t plaintiff had no locus standi to bring out the case and that the court lacked jurisdiction.
Justice Lifu who further held that the plaintiff predicated his suit on the protection of PDP Constitution from being violated , pointed out that having displayed his PDP membership card before the court and having raised the fundamental issue of protection of PDP’s Constitution, had sufficient interest and justiciable cause to institute the case.
