Olu Falae Faction to Appeal Judgment Striking out SDP Leadership Suit

Alex Enumah in Abuja

A faction of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) on Friday vowed to appeal the judgment of a Federal High Court, Abuja which struck out their suit seeking to be recognized as the authentic leadership of the party.

The faction belonging to Chief Olu Falae, told journalists shortly after the court’s judgment that their lawyers will study the judgment and will then approach the Court of Appeal to ventilate their dissatisfaction.

Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court in a judgment on Friday strike out the suit filed by the Olu Falae faction for being incompetent and lacking in merit.

Justice Ekwo struck out the suit on the grounds that his court lacked necessary jurisdiction to entertain it, adding that the subject matter of the suit was an internal affairs of the SDP which the court cannot dabble into.

“I find that, there is no cause of action in this case as the subject matter is an internal affairs of the party.

“I decline jurisdiction on this suit and I make an order striking out the suit for lacking in merit”, Justice Ekwo held.

The SDP, Chief Supo Shonibare and 10 others had in 2019 dragged Professor Tunde Adeniran and 11 others before the Federal High Court Abuja, over the authentic leadership of the SDP.

In the suit marked: FHA/A/ABJ/CS/1358/2019, plaintiffs claimed that they were elected at the party’s national convention in March 9, 2016 for a period of four years and would leave office on March 8, 2020.

Plaintiffs averred that their tenure had not expired, when sometimes in 2018, Professor Tunde Adeniran and his group hijacked the party on claims that they were appointed at the party’s 2018 national convention.

Shonibare, who claimed to be the Acting National Chairman of the party, following the resignation of the National Chairman, Chief Olu Falae in 2019, insisted that there was no election of party officials in 2018.

In addition, plaintiffs who tied their claim to office on the provisions of the party’s 2012 Constitution, noted that neither the 2012 constitution nor the purported one adopted by Falae and some others did not allow for appointment of NEC members.

They urged the court to hold that the 1 to 11 defendants are not the authentic leadership of the SDP.

However, the 1,2,4,9 and 11 defendants represented by Peter Nwata, in denying claims that they have colluded with INEC, informed the court that the 2 to 12 plaintiffs had no locus to institute the legal action in the first place and that their names should be struck out from the suit.

According to him, while the second defendant was expelled from the party, others at various times had resigned and so ceased to be members of the party.

In its own opposition to the suit INEC maintained that the case of the plaintiffs have become statute barred by provisions of Section 251 of the 1999 Constitution as amended, adding that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the matter.