The Court of Appeal sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, yesterday, dismissed the request by the suspended national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Uche Secondus, to restrain the party from conducting its national convention which begins today, October 30 in Abuja.
The three-man panel headed by Justice Haruna Tsammani declined to grant the complainant’s prayer for lack of merit.
With the development, the party is set for the convention.
The judgement read by Justice Gabriel Kolawale, was unanimously endorsed by the other two members of the panel, who said Secondus’ suit was an afterthought and an abuse of court process.
The judge held that the attempt by the applicant to scuttle the party’s convention “is an act of self-induced urgency to disrupt an ongoing lawful process of the party.”
He wondered why the applicant waited for too long to seek the stoppage of the process which had been communicated to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
He also noted that Secondus neither indicated interest in his application to continue as the national chairman of the PDP after being suspended nor showed any interest to re-contest for the position upon the expiration of his tenure on December 9, 2021 hence the application was a distraction to the planned national convention of the party.
“The appellant motion on notice filed on October 27, 2021, fails and is hereby dismissed.
“By the power of this decision, the 6th respondent is empowered on the authority of this court’s decision to hold its national convention without any hindrance,” he said.
Speaking to journalists outside the courtroom, counsel for Secondus, Mr. Tayo Oyetibo, said the dismissal of his client’s application was not the end of it as the instructions of the appeal were still alive.
“The court has directed that the PDP can continue with the national convention. However, the instruction is that the appeal continues and depending on the outcome of the appeal, if it succeeds then it has an impact on whatever decision is taken on the national convention.
“So, it’s still not over. We still have an appeal pending before this court (Court of Appeal) waiting to be taken. That is when the court said they would give us a date to come and argue. It is the outcome of that that would determine the validity or otherwise (of our case).”
For his part, Mr. Henry Bello, counsel for the 1st-5th respondents (Rivers local government council chair who took Secondus to the state High Court), who spoke on behalf of the respondents said the ruling was a ticket to a hitch-free national convention as scheduled.
“The Court of Appeal in Port Harcourt has delivered a considered ruling, where the court has dismissed the application of the appellant/applicant, Uche Secondus, to stop the national convention of the PDP.
“Rather, the court has ordered the PDP to go ahead with its national convention unhindered.”
Meanwhile, Secondus said he was heading for the Supreme Court to challenge the ruling of the Court of Appeal.
He said in an interview that impunity, which he alleged had driven the party to the precipice and threatened its internal democracy and unity, must be resisted at all costs.
Secondus said he had instructed his lawyers to appeal the ruling at the apex court in the interest of justice.
He said if those who orchestrated and foisted what he described as an avoidable crisis on the party had listened to “wise counsel of party leaders and elders who advised the withdrawal of cases, this situation would have been avoidable. I wish the party well as always.”
Also reacting to the judgement, the governor of Rivers State, Mr. Nyesom Wike, lauded the court for restoring the convention.
He said Secondus’ attempt to scuttle the convention “makes him an enemy of the party.”
He said no individual could derail the party’s mission to rescue Nigeria.
“What Secondus is doing is to sabotage the efforts of Nigerians, the efforts of PDP from rescuing this country from the hand of the party that has failed the country. And it is not fair.
“This is a party that has given you everything and there’s nothing wrong in making sacrifice. Even if, assuming though not conceding, that anything was wrong, we expected that having achieved what you have achieved in your life from this party, there is nothing wrong in making sacrifice,” he said.
