Court ruling halting PDP convention, recipe for anarchy – Bode George

By Chinelo Obogo

The former deputy national president of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olabode George, has described the October 31 Federal High Court judgment delivered by Justice James Omotosho, brought before him by some PDP members to halt the party’s planned national elective convention scheduled for November 15 and 16 in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital as a recipe for anarchy.

Speaking during a press conference in his Lagos office on Wednesday, he expressed surprise at Justice James Omotosho’s ruling stopping the convention, saying that the Supreme Court ruled that such an exercise is an internal affair of any political party.

Citing the case between Governor Caleb Mutfwang and Nentawe, he said the Supreme Court’s position on the matter which was expected to be interpreted by the learned judge is very clear. He said the apex court ruled that no court has Jurisdiction over matters relating to administration of political party and election of Its officers.

“Matters about a political party’s congress to elect officers of any level of its executive committees, the constitution of such executive committees, and matters related to the administration of the party, are its internal affairs and not within the jurisdiction of courts. Issues of party leadership and or membership are domestic affairs of political parties and non-justiciable. The issues, however they arise, cannot be entertained by a court. Only a primary election congress is open to litigation as a pre-election action by virtue of Section 84 of the Electoral Act 2022.

“A congress to elect officers of any level of the executive committee of a political party has to do with the internal management of the political party. It is non-justiciable. Therefore, a court or tribunal has no jurisdiction to entertain any dispute arising therefrom. In this case, the preponderance of evidence adduced at the tribunal was that the 4th respondent complied with the order of the High Court of Plateau State by conducting a repeat congress on 25th September 2021.

“Consequently, the Court of Appeal erred when it went into whether or not the congress was properly organised or conformed to the dictates of the Electoral Act or the 4th respondent’s constitution and guidelines. Therefore, the judgment of the Court of Appeal was founded on a faulty premise that it had jurisdiction to determine pre-election and non-justiciable matters. In his judgement stopping the PDP Convention, Justice Omotosho is trying to force his personal judicial opinion into the sacred judicial interpretation of the apex court of the land. The Supreme Court said judiciary has no right to dabble into party’s internal affairs. So, on this judgement, Justice Omotosho is clearly wrong. he said.

George called on the Chief Justice of Nigeria and the National Judicial Council to call the judge to order, saying that any judgment capable of leading to a breakdown of law and order should be avoided.

“As I said earlier, during all our congresses leading to this convention, INEC officials were present. The electoral body witnessed the procedure. They took notes. INEC is not complaining. The judge did not even call INEC officials to crosscheck facts. So, why is the judge complaining? Does he have a political interest? Is he working for APC? What type of judgment is this? Are we still in a democracy? We have to be careful in this country. The CJN and NJC should monitor some of these judges before they set our democracy on fire.

“PDP is the oldest and most experienced party in the country today. Since 1998 when we formed this party, we have always followed the law during our congresses and convention. It is not the prerogative of courts to dabble into affairs of a political party in managing its electoral procedure as entrenched in its internal dynamics and Constitution.

“Now, Justice Omotosho’s judgement has led to the invasion of our National Secretariat in Abuja by uniformed security personnel, acting in concert with a minority faction of the party. Nigeria stands at critical crossroads. What is needed now is restraint, dialogue, and a recommitment to civilised democratic conduct. The PDP remains committed to peace, unity, and the defence of democracy,” George said.