Mr. Ashi declared the 2014 amendment to the constitution of PDP illegal on the grounds that the party did not comply with Section 66(2)(3) of its constitution by not serving the national secretary with a written copy of the proposed amendment two months before the convention.
The crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has taken a new twist as a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), sitting in Apo, Abuja, ordered the party’s factional chairman, Ali Modu-Sheriff, and other officers to step down from their positions as national officers of the party.
Justice Valentine Ashi of Court 29, High Court of FCT, in a judgment today specifically restrained those currently parading themselves as the national officers of PDP on the basis of the purported amendment to the party's constitution at a special convention, which was held in Abuja on December 10 and 11, 2014.
By the amendment of 2014 on Article 47, Paragraph 6 of the PDP constitution, the party amended the provision which stated that in case of any vacancy, the National Executive Committee (NEC) of PDP can appoint an acting chairman from the area or zone where the last occupant of the office hailed from "pending when the election is conducted to reflect that where there is a vacancy, and the acting chairman shall serve the tenure of the officer who left before the expiration of the tenure."
Mr. Ashi declared the 2014 amendment to the constitution of PDP illegal on the grounds that the party did not comply with Section 66(2)(3) of its constitution by not serving the national secretary with a written copy of the proposed amendment two months before the convention. The national secretary was also required to circulate the proposed amendment among State secretaries of the party a month before the convention.
The judge, who emphasized the need for the party to strictly adhere to the provisions of its constitution, said that the insertion of the clauses in Section 66(2) and (3) was intended to deepen internal democracy in the party. He said the clauses constituted conditions precedent that must be initially fulfilled.
Mr. Ashi held that the process leading to the amendment of Article 47(6) of the party's constitution did not comply with the provisions in Section 66(2) and (3) of the PDP constitution.
He dismissed the argument by the counsel to the PDP, including Okere Kingdom, to the effect that the appointment of the party's chairman was its internal affair which the court should not dabble into.
Addressing this argument, Mr. Ashi said that although the issue was an internal affair of the party, the court has jurisdiction to determine whether or not the party complied with its own constitution and regulations.
Though the judge did not specifically mention Mr. Modu Sheriff in his judgment, he ordered that those who became national officers of the party by virtue of the 2014 amendment to the constitution of PDP, which the court has declared unlawful, should cease to parade themselves in those capacities.
After a thorough analysis of submissions by parties and evidence presented, Justice Ashi ordered that "the purported amendment of Article 47, Rule 6 of the PDP, 2012 at a special convention held on Wednesday and Thursday, 10 and 11 December 2014 is unconstitutional, null and void, as there was no compliance with mandatory provision of Article 66 (2) and (3) of the same constitution.
"By reason of the above, the purported amendment of Article 47(6) introduced to the constitution of PDP on the aforesaid dates is hereby set aside.
"All persons, individuals, officers, servants or agents of PDP parading themselves as national officers of the party pursuant to the purported amendment, which has now been nullified, are hereby restrained from further parading themselves in these capacities."
The judgment was delivered on a suit filed by a member of the PDP, Joseph Jero from Irele Local Government Council of Ondo State, against the party.
The suit is marked FCT/HC/CV/1867/2016 with PDP as the sole defendant.
The plaintiff, Mr. Jero, invoked the jurisdiction of the court to interpret sections 221(d) and 223 (1)(a) of the Nigerian constitution, Article 47(6) of the PDP constitution, as well as Section 85(3) of the Electoral Act with regards to the appointment of a caretaker or chairman of the party.
SaharaReporters recalled that the amendment was made by the party to validate the emergence of Adamu Muazu as the PDP chairman following the abrupt exit of his predecessor, Bamaga Tukur, in 2014 and to sustain the emergence of former President Goodluck Jonathan as the party's presidential candidate.
