-Deborah Akinyosoye
JUSTICE Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja has restrained the National Executive Committee (NEC) and Board of Trustees (BoT) of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) from removing Umar Damagum as the Acting National Chairman of the party.
The court ordered that no other person must be recognised as PDP national chairman other than Damagum until the national convention of the party scheduled for December next year.
Justice Lifu issued the restraining order against the PDP NEC, BoT, and others while delivering judgment in a suit instituted against them by Senator Umar El-Gash Maina.
The judge held that in line with Articles 42, 47, and 67 of PDP, it is only at the national convention of the party that national officers can be elected.
In the suit, 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, 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, Phillip Salawu, was being pushed forward as a replacement for Damagun by the stakeholders.
Maina claimed that upon becoming aware of the plan, two separate letters complaining against the clandestine meetings were delivered to the national secretary of the party, Samuel Anyanwu, and that despite the acknowledgment of the two letters, the national secretary and BoT members have never deemed it fit to act on the letters and their claims.
In the suit instituted on his behalf by Joshua Musa who is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, the plaintiff therefore prayed the courtp to invoke articles 45, 47, and 67 of the PDP Constitution to stop the move to replace Damagum as the acting national chairman.
The plaintiff specifically asked the court to declare that the national chairmanship of the PDP is rotated between the north and south regions and not through any other procedure not enshrined in the PDP’s Constitution.
In his judgment after perusing the PDP’s Constitution and exhibits, Justice Lifu agreed with the plaintiff that Damagum can only be replaced at the national convention of PDP or through an order of a court.
Justice Lifu also held that any attempt to truncate the un-exhausted four-year tenure of the northern region without the national convention of the party would amount to an affront to the Constitution of the PDP.
Earlier, the judge had dismissed the opposition of the defendants to the suit on the grounds that the plaintiff had no locus standi to bring out the case and that the court lacked jurisdiction.
Justice Lifu held that the plaintiff predicated his suit on the protection of the PDP Constitution from being violated and the northern region where he hailed from being shortchanged from the four-year tenure.
Justice Lifu said that the plaintiff 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.