NIGERIA: Court Reinstates PDP S’West Caretaker Committee

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A Federal High Court in Lagos   Monday reinstated members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) South-west Zone Caretaker Committee.
 
They had earlier resigned their positions to enable them contest in a zonal congress which eventually did not hold. 
 
The trial judge, Justice Okon Abang, held that the plaintiffs can remain in office until a valid congress is held.
 
Seventeen members of the PDP had urged the court to hold that they remain the valid caretaker committee members by virtue of a court order, adding that PDP cannot appoint any other persons to replace them.
 
They sought a declaration that based on judgment delivered by Justice Abang on April 9, 2013, following which they were appointed as the caretaker committee of the South-west geopolitical zone until the conduct of a zonal congress to elect new officers, PDP is not at liberty to dissolve the committee until new officers are elected.
 
They prayed the court to hold that the resignation of their positions in the committee was to enable them contest for a substantive office during the congress, which was scheduled to hold on August 24 last year, but was cancelled.
 
They said since the congress was cancelled, their resignation is, therefore, of no effect.
 
"I hold that the plaintiffs can remain in office until a valid congress is held," the judge held.
 
He urged the PDP to recognise the plaintiffs as the valid officers in the South-west.
 
Justice Abang awarded the cost of N30,000 to the plaintiffs.
The judge held that the plaintiffs were cajoled, tricked and forced to resign their positions under the guise of conducting a zonal congress.
 
He said as part of the guidelines for the zonal congress, the plaintiff, who were members of the caretaker committee, could not contest for any office until they resigned.
To fulfill that condition, they had to resign, and that since the congress did not hold, they ought to return to their positions.
 
The judge said the appointment of any other person or persons into the caretaker committee of the PDP in the South-west would be illegal and contemptuous of the subsisting orders of court.
 
Justice Abang said since the PDP did not hold the congress, it was supposed to return to status quo.
 
The court also agreed with one of depositions of the plaintiffs that a party chieftain connived with some members of the party's National Executive Committee (NEC) to postpone the zonal congress on the basis of a purported court order restraining PDP from going ahead with the congress when he knew that his unpopular candidates could not win in a free and fair zonal congress.
 
The judge said he believed the plaintiffs since that part of their affidavit was not countered by the PDP.
 
The plaintiffs are Ishola Filani (Ekiti); Chief Pegba Otemolu (Ogun), Adedeji Doherty (Lagos), Rasak Adekonla Akanni (Oyo), Bolaji Jeje (Lagos), Orimolade Olanrewaju (Ondo), Olawunmi Oshinmoluke Yuba (Ogun) and Banji Obasanmi (Ekiti).
 
Others are Shola Oludipe (Ondo), Lawal Waheed Olatunde (Oyo), Emmanuel Oladejo (Oyo), Olalekan Abubakar (Lagos), Seun Adesanya (Ogun), Semiu Babatunde (Ogun), Mr. Tope Ademiluyi (Ekiti), Tunde Olowofoyeku (Osun) and Mr. Omoniyi Alo (Ondo).
 
The plaintiffs sought an order restraining the PDP from appointing any other persons in their place as the party’s caretaker committee in the South-west zone.
 
They also prayed for an order nullifying any such appointment; and an order restraining PDP from dissolving or disbanding their committee or recognising any other caretaker committee.
 
The plaintiffs also asked the court to restrain PDP from acting in the South-west zone through any other persons except them; and to bar INEC from recognising any other committee except them.
 
In a supporting affidavit, Filana said the court had directed the PDP to set up a caretaker committee to run the party’s affairs in the South-west, consisting of the plaintiffs, who were “duly elected delegates from the constituent states of the zone,” pending the conduct of a new congress.
 
He said PDP announced a timetable for the congress sometime in June 2013 and scheduled the congress for August 24, 2013.
 
Filani said some of the caretaker committee members resigned their offices to be able to contest for new offices in the congress.
 
“However, certain persons, envisaging that their favoured candidates for the elections were unpopular and had no chances of winning any election connived to  put pressure on the NEC of the party to disband and dissolve the caretaker committee, cancel the congress and constitute a new caretaker committee for the South-west zone which comprised of their unpopular nominees.
 
“It is clear that unless this honourable court intervenes, the second defendant (PDP) will defy the order of this court in Suit No. FHC/L/CS/347/2012 set out above and constitute an illegal and invalid caretaker committee in place of the plaintiffs and the first defendant (INEC) would proceed to recognise the illegal contraption as representing the South-west zone of the PDP,” he said.
 
PDP, however, filed a counter-affidavit and a written address in opposition to the action, in which it urged the court to dismiss the suit.
 
The party said it was under an erroneous impression that there was a court order asking it not to hold the congress.
 
According to PDP, they thought an Ekiti State High Court had given an order stopping the congress, but they later found out there was no such order.
 
PDP said the judge, who purportedly made the order, later clarified that he did not make any such order on the basis of which it cancelled the congress.
 
The party, however, said the plaintiffs were not bound to continue in office even though the congress did not hold, since they had tendered their resignations.
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