Tony John, Port Harcourt
A federal lawmaker representing Khana/Gokana in the House of Representatives, Dumnamene Dekor, has said that individuals and political parties who might wish to use the judiciary as a means to stall due process in future political activities of the Rivers State chapter of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) should think twice.
Dekor made the remark against the backdrop of the ruling of an Abuja federal high court which struck out a case filed by some supposedly aggrieved members of PDP in Rivers led by one Osaro Nwakaji.
The complainants dragged the party to court for allegedly excluding them from participating in the ward congress that took place in February, this year.
Dekor said the PDP in Rivers has a ‘well-articulated internal mechanism’ to handle personal reservations and matters arising from nominations, as well as elections, which were open to them if actually there were members of the PDP in the state.
He noted that the complainants opted to head for the court against the party’s constitutional order, which seemed to confirm the suspicion of PDP about their genuine membership.
According to the Ogoni-born politician, the PDP in Rivers has come a long way to be deceived by just anybody who might claim to be member of the party, to be taken seriously as a genuine member, knowing well that some were planted to cause confusion within the party.
He expressed satisfaction that the Abuja high court was not only insightful to detect that the suit ought to have been instituted in Rivers where the cause of action originated but also saw with the defence that for the claimants to have filed the same suit before another court was an abuse of court process which would amount to ‘judicial rascality’ if entertained.
Dekor, while applauding the court ruling as unbiased and instructive, advised the aggrieved party members to pull the veil off their eyes and begin to see the courts in true light as an ‘impartial umpire’ led by men and women with deep knowledge of the law, and knowledgeable in the party constitution and can, therefore, not be misled.
He said the recent ward, local government and state congresses of the PDP in the State, were one of the most ‘peaceful, fair and credible’ in the history of party congresses in the state.
The House of Representatives member stressed that the new leadership of PDP has come to stay because it was elected on the principles of equity.
He appealed to the supposedly aggrieved party members to stop wasting their time and resources on litigations and join the party.
He assured that the party is the only forum where misgivings and grievances of aggrieved members would be addressed in a manner that would bring satisfaction and lasting peace.