Court stops Baraje faction from parading self as PDP exco

The leadership of the ‘New Peoples Democratic Party’ suffered a major setback on Friday as an Abuja Federal High Court restrained them from parading as the national executive committee of the party.

The New PDP was equally restrained from operating parallel national, state, local government area and ward offices of the party.

The Independent National Electoral Commission was also ordered to refrain from recognising, dealing and relating with the New PDP.

The court, presided by Justice Elvis Chukwu, made the order while delivering judgment in a suit in which the Alhaji Bamanga Tukur-led faction of the party asked it to stop the Alhaji Abubakar Baraje-led group from further parading themselves as the party’s elected executive officers.

The defendants in the suit – Baraje, Dr. Sam Jaja, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola and former Vice President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar – were backed by seven state governors, including Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Babangida Aliyu (Niger), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara) and Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers).

They had announced their emergence at a press conference at the Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja, shortly after walking away from the PDP special convention which was taking place on the same day at the Eagle Square.

But the Tukur group, which included all the officials elected at the August 31 special national convention at the Eagle Square, insisted that they were the authentic national executive committee of the PDP.

In the suit filed by their lawyer, Tochukwu Onwugbufor, SAN, they also maintained that the only valid convention of the party was the one held at the Eagle Square, which was endorsed by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

As a result, they also asked the court to restrain INEC from recognising, dealing and relating with the Baraje-led faction as the national officers of the party.

The New PDP had, through their counsel, Ahmed Raji, SAN, and Robert Clarke, SAN, asked the court to decline jurisdiction in the matter, arguing that the dispute was an internal affair of a political party, and as a result, not justicable.

They also argued that the suit should have been filed before a state or Federal Capital Territory High Court, rather than the FHC.