The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said that the Oyo State judgement, which nullified last year’s national convention that elected the Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, SAN led National Working Committee (NWC), is academic as there are pending appeals before the Court of Appeal on the matter.
Turaki, at a press conference in Abuja on Friday, however said that the party has already filed a Notice of Appeal as well as a Motion for Stay of Execution of the judgment. “We are determined to pursue this matter diligently and to its logical conclusion in accordance with the law,” he stated.
According to him, the Ibadan judgment is only one among several decisions of the Federal High Court on the PDP leadership crisis. The National Chairman stated that notwithstanding the judgment, the NWC produced by the Ibadan convention “remains legally intact, firmly in place, and fully committed to the ongoing rebirth of the party.
“I therefore urge our members and supporters across the country to remain calm and resolute. There is absolutely no cause for alarm. The re- birth movement is steadily on course. “This judgement represents nothing more than the navigation of one of the judicial bends along our journey.
The destination remains clear, and as histo- ry has consistently shown, it is the final outcome that ultimately matters.” Turaki accused the presiding judge of granting the reliefs that were neither prayed for nor canvassed by any of the parties. “More importantly, the judgement is in material conflict with subsisting orders and previous judgements of courts of coordinate jurisdiction,” he said.
He disclosed that the party approached the court seeking an order of mandamus to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise the Ibadan convention and to facilitate official party communications with the commission.
“In the course of the proceedings, some former members of our party, who had earlier been expelled, applied to be joined and were so joined by the court. They filed processes urging the court not to grant our prayers, without more,” he said.
Meanwhile, the National Caretaker Committee of the PDP loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, said that the latest judgement is victory for the rule of law, constitutionalism, and internal party democracy.
The faction, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Jungude Haruna Mohammed, said that the judgement reaffirmed PDP’s long-standing position that legitimacy could only be derived from strict compliance with its Constitution, extant laws, and valid court orders.
