A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos on Monday reinstated the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Southwest Zone Caretaker Committee.
17 members of the PDP had taken the party and INEC to court to seek a declaration that based on judgment delivered by Justice Okon Abang on April 9, 2013, following which they were appointed as the Caretaker Committee of the Southwest Zone until the conduct of a zonal congress to elect new officers, the PDP was not at liberty to dissolve the committee until new officers have been elected.
They asked 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 2013, but was cancelled.
They argued that since the congress was cancelled, their resignation was, therefore, of no effect. Justice Abang agreed with them and urged the PDP to recognise the plaintiffs as the valid officers in the Southwest.
In a supporting affidavit, one of the plaintiffs, Ishola Filani, said that the court had directed the PDP to set up a caretaker committee to run the party’s affairs in the Southwest, 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 that the PDP announced a timetable for the congress sometime in June 2013 and scheduled the congress for August 24, 2013; a development that led to some of the Caretaker Committee members resigning 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 National Executive Committee of the party to disband and dissolve the caretaker committee, cancel the congress and constitute a new caretaker committee for the Southwest Zone, 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 Southwest Zone of the PDP,” he said.
The 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 that 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 that 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, maintained that the plaintiffs were not bound to continue in office even though the congress did not hold, since they had tendered their resignations.
The plaintiffs are Ishola Filani (Ekiti State); Chief Pegba Otemolu (Ogun State), Adedeji Doherty (Lagos State), Rasak Adekonla Akanni (Oyo State), Bolaji Jeje (Lagos state), Orimolade Olanrewaju (Ondo State), Olawunmi Oshinmoluke Yuba (Ogun State) and Banji Obasanmi (Ekiti State).
Others are Shola Oludipe (Ondo State), Lawal Waheed Olatunde (Oyo State), Emmanuel Oladejo (Oyo State), Olalekan Abubakar (Lagos State), Seun Adesanya (Ogun State), Semiu Babatunde (Ogun State), Prince Tope Ademiluyi (Ekiti State), Tunde Olowofoyeku (Osun State) and Prince Omoniyi Alo (Ondo State).
The court also awarded the cost of N30,000 to the plaintiffs.
