There are indications that the days of Senator Samuel Anyanwu as the National Secretary of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) are numbered as the National Legal Adviser Kamaladeen Ajibade, SAN, advised the party to swear in Sunday Ude-Okoye as his successor.
The acting National Chairman Ambassador Umar Damagum, who was told by the court to swear Ude-Okoye in to serve out Anyanwu’s tenure, had in a memo dated February 6, sought Ajibade’s legal opinion on the matter.
Said Damagum, “Following a series of litigations from different courts, kindly study all the submissions from the committees set up by the Governors’ Forum as well as that of the Board of Trustees with the view of coming up with your legal opinion to enable us to take an informed position.”
Ajibade in his reply on February 7, which was received at the acting National Chairman’s office on Monday, February 10, said he was convinced that based on the legal opinion of Dr Kabiru Turaki, SAN, which succinctly advised the BoT, “It is without doubt that the contending parties voluntarily submitted their respective documents, and after due consideration of same, the committee submitted its legal opinion/advise.”
He noted that the BoT based its decision on Turaki’s legal opinion, arguing that the contending parties have voluntarily submitted to the authority of the Turaki-led committee, “and a legal opinion/advice having been proffered after evaluation of documents tendered by parties, calling for a review of the said legal opinion/advise, in my opinion is not only improper but will undermine the effort of the BoT and increase the already existing tension as well as worsen the volatility within the party which may be difficult to arrest.”
The NLA advised the contending parties to be honourable enough to abide by the outcome of the legal opinion stemming from the proceeding they unreservedly consented to, “most especially that the said legal opinion/advice was signed by a well-experienced Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and the same adopted by the BoT which is the conscience of the party.”
He told the acting National Chairman that he had nothing to add to the legal opinion but to adopt it as well.
Turaki had told the BoT that the Court of Appeal judgement that sacked Anyanwu was a declarative one which could not be stayed.
He contended that while the court granted the order all parties to maintain the status quo ante bellum pending the hearing and the determination of the motion on notice, “the order of the court was an interim one,’ pending the hearing of the motion on notice, and not “the appeal, that would have made it interlocutory.”
According to him, “If the order was pending the hearing of the appeal, it would then have lasted forever, until the appeal is heard, no matter how long it takes for the appeal to be heard.”
