Court declares Obasanjo-led Ogun PDP faction illegal
A high court
sitting in Abeokuta yesterday declared a faction of the People’s
Democratic Party, the Harmonization Committee, unconstitutional,
illegal, null and void. The Harmonization Committee, a faction of the
party, which enjoys the support of former president, Olusegun Obasanjo,
is the group which produced Tunji Olurin as the governorship candidate
of the party, as indicated in an injunction from the Federal High
Court, Abuja. In his ruling in Abeokuta yesterday, the judge, A.O.
Jibodu said the process by the PDP to remove the Gbenga Daniel-led
group’s factional chairman, Joju Fadairo, and others from office is
null and void.
He said that by
virtue of the provisions of Article 14.1 of the constitution of the
party, the claimants who were duly elected on the February 28, 2008 as
chairman and officers of the Ogun State Executive Committee of the
party were duly elected. In view of this, the judge posited that Mr.
Fadairo and others were entitled to hold the offices into which they
were elected as set out opposite their respective names in the schedule
annexed to the summons for a term of four years commencing from
February 28, 2008.
In the suit
reference number AB/166/2010, the judge also described the action of
the national headquarters of the party as illegal, declaring that the
purported dissolution of the Ogun State Executive Committee of the PDP
as contained in a letter dated August 6, 2010 purportedly issued by the
national chairman of the party was unconstitutional, null and void.
The ruling also
restrained the defendants — whether by themselves or their servants,
officers or representatives — from preventing the Joju Fadairo-led
committee from performing the functions of their office or otherwise
interfering in any manner whatsoever with the performance by the
claimants of the functions of their offices in the Ogun State Executive
Committee of the PDP.
The court also
restrained the defendants: the PDP; the former chairman of the PDP.
Okwesilieze Nwodo; Abubakr Kawau Baraje, the national secretary; and
Tajudeen Oladipo, the national vice chairman (PDP, southwest zone) from
giving effect in any manner whatsoever to the purported dissolution of
the Ogun State Executive Committee of the PDP.
Reaction
The counsel to the
Olurin group, Ajibola Oluyede, in reacting to the ruling said the
judgment had no binding effect on his client because it had been
overtaken by events.
“The judgment they
claimed to have obtained is not on merit because other parties involved
in the case were not represented,” he said. “Only the state is
affected, and I am also not aware that there was any trial before
judgment was given.”
Similarly, the
campaign organization for Mr. Olurin in its reaction, described the
purported court judgment as a “mere desperate exercise of no
consequence whatsoever”.
“We received, with
great amusement, the news of the purported court judgement obtained by
the Gbenga Daniel/Joju Fadairo group. The so-called judgment is one of
the latest antics of a sinking man, clutching at every straw in sight
in a vain attempt to stay afloat. One wonders how the so-called
judgment from a state high court could resuscitate an exco that does
not exist ab initio,” the statement, signed by Gbenga Adesanya, stated.
“The National
Working Committee (NWC) of the party is yet to reverse its dissolution
of the former Joju Fadairo-led exco. The national leadership of the
party on Tuesday confirmed its position when it gave our candidates
flags to fly the party’s ticket in the April elections.
“The Federal High Court in Lagos has also restrained the dissolved
Joju Fadairo-led exco from parading themselves as officers of the party
and from conducting primaries/congresses. They had told the whole world
that they were leaving our party. Pray, why do they want to cause more
confusion before their exit?”
