Convention: Supreme Court To Have Final Say -Makinde-led PDP Faction

The Governor Seyi Makinde-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said that the Supreme Court would have the final say in resolving the contentious issues surrounding the party’s leadership.

In a statement by the faction’s National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong, on Monday, March 30, on the party’s official X handle, the party said it had filed an appeal and accompanying applications before the apex court, seeking clarity on matters relating to its leadership structure, particularly issues bordering on what constitutes an internal party affair.

TVC News Online reports that the faction of the party backed by the minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, held its national convention in Abuja on Sunday, where new members of the National Working Committee were elected.

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“We reassure that we have taken this battle to the Supreme Court for the determination of all the issues relating to the leadership of our party, particularly as it relates to what constitutes an internal affair. With this appeal and the relevant concomitant applications filed and served on all the parties involved, we are hopeful that, sooner rather than later, the apex court will, in the interest of democracy, expeditiously hear and adjudicate on this matter.

“For the avoidance of doubt, we state that the pre-Easter jamboree of APC sympathisers and members of ‘Wike’s Autocratic Party’, which they mischievously tagged a PDP convention, was held in contempt of the Court of Appeal, where parties had entered appearances and agreed with the Court on the way to proceed with the matter, only to turn around and undertake acts capable of destroying the res. Furthermore, they were served with the processes of the appeal at the Supreme Court, as well as other suits challenging the holding of the said convention. The validity of that gathering is now a matter before the court, which we will diligently follow to its conclusion,” he said.

The party further faulted a ruling of the Federal High Court in Abuja, presided over by Justice Abdulmalik, which granted access to the PDP national secretariat to a faction it described as “Wike-backed APC apologists.”

It said it had already instructed its legal team to challenge the decision.

“Additionally, the Federal High Court, Abuja, per Justice Abdulmalik, whom we had earlier applied to for recusal on the basis of her bias against us, expectedly delivered judgment this morning in favour of the Wike-backed APC apologists, granting them access to the PDP secretariat and directing security agencies to offer them protection while in occupation of the said secretariat. In response, we have directed our lawyers to immediately file an appeal and other relevant applications against this judgment.”

The party urged its members and Nigerians to remain hopeful, expressing confidence that the judiciary would safeguard democratic principles.

“We urge our members and all Nigerians to keep hope alive in the sincere expectation that the apex court will come to the rescue of multi-party democracy in the appeal before them. The Supreme Court now has the historic opportunity to uphold and defend the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and its earlier decisions on the jurisdiction of courts in internal affairs of political parties, when it has its final say.”