Jigawa PDP Rejects Sule Lamido’s Suspension, Calls for Immediate Reversal

Chuks Okocha in Abuja 

The Jigawa State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has condemned the suspension of a former governor of the state and one of the party’s founding fathers, Alhaji Sule Lamido, by the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT), describing the action as unjust, vindictive and inimical to party’s unity.

Chairman of the party in the state, Dr. Babandi Ibrahim Gumel, disclosed this in a statement.

According to the statement, the Jigawa PDP received news of Lamido’s suspension with “profound shock and disappointment.”

The statement added that the suspension, which was reportedly based on allegations that Lamido attended meetings capable of undermining party unity, amounted to an affront to justice, internal democracy and the reconciliation efforts recently championed by the PDP leadership.

The party stressed that the exercise of legal and constitutional rights within the party should not be interpreted as an act of disunity. 

It recalled that Lamido approached the court after he was allegedly denied the opportunity to purchase a nomination form to contest the position of National Chairman of the PDP.

The statement further noted that the Federal High Court in Abuja, presided over by Justice Peter Lifu, ruled in Lamido’s favour by restraining the PDP from proceeding with its national convention until his right to contest was determined.

The Jigawa PDP argued that the suspension appeared to be a punitive action against Lamido for seeking judicial redress over an issue on which the court had already found merit.