The Federal High Court in Abuja has reserved judgement in a legal battle seeking to halt the Peoples Democratic Party’s planned national convention, with the ruling scheduled for October 31.
Justice James Omotosho fixed the date on Tuesday after lawyers representing both the plaintiffs and defendants adopted their processes and presented final arguments in the contentious suit.
The plaintiffs—Austin Nwachukwu, the Imo State PDP chairman; Amah Nnanna, his Abia State counterpart; and Turnah Alabh George, the party’s South-South secretary—are challenging the legitimacy of the convention scheduled for November 15 and 16 in Ibadan, Oyo State.
They have dragged the Independent National Electoral Commission, the PDP, and several party officials to court, including National Secretary Samuel Anyanwu, National Organising Secretary Umar Bature, the National Working Committee, and the National Executive Committee.
Also joined in the suit are Umar Damagum, the party’s national chairman; Ali Odefa; and Emmanuel Ogidi.
The three party chieftains are seeking to stop the Ibadan convention where new national officers are expected to be elected, arguing that proper procedures were not followed in the lead-up to the exercise.
During Tuesday’s proceedings, Justice Omotosho warned all parties to respect his earlier order maintaining the status quo regarding the convention.
Joseph Daudu, SAN, representing the plaintiffs, urged the court to treat the matter as a constitutional issue rather than an internal party affair.
“This is about enforcing adherence to the 1999 Constitution, the Electoral Act 2022, and the PDP Constitution,” Daudu argued.
The senior lawyer insisted that Nigeria’s constitution mandates INEC to monitor party congresses before they can be considered valid.
He told the court that the plaintiffs’ grievances centred on the failure to conduct valid congresses in 14 states before the party’s NWC and NEC issued notice for the November convention.
However, Damagum’s counsel, Paul Erokoro, SAN, pushed back strongly against the suit, asking the judge to decline jurisdiction on grounds that convention and congress matters are strictly internal party affairs.
Eyitayo Jegede, SAN, representing the NWC and NEC, aligned himself with Erokoro’s position, arguing that courts have no business inquiring into the internal workings of political parties.
