Alex Enumah in Abuja
Hearing in the suit seeking to stop the primary election of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), yesterday, stalled at the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court.
Justice Donatus Okorowo of the Federal High Court, Abuja, had last week adjourned the suit with an order on the PDP to appear before it to show cause why the primary slated for May 28, should not be stopped.
An aggrieved member of the PDP and one time Deputy Speaker of the Abia State House of Assembly, Mr. Cosmas Ndukwe, had sued the PDP over its planned primary, which he claimed violated its Constitution.
Ndukwe, also brought an application for an order of injunction restraining the PDP from proceeding with the primary election pending the hearing and determination of his suit challenging the position of the party on the issue of zoning the party’s presidential ticket.
In the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/508/2022 are the PDP, National Chairman of the party, Dr Iyorchia Atu, Senator Samuel Anyanwu and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as 1st to fourth respondents respectively.
Rather than grant the request, the judge ordered that the PDP appear before it on May 5 and show cause why the court should not accede to the plaintiff’s demand.
When the matter was called, counsel to Ndukwe, Chief Paul Erokoro, SAN, told the court that he was just served late Wednesday with the response of the PDP and as such would be needing time to reply the PDP and subsequently asked the court for a short adjournment.
Responding, PDP’s lawyer, Mr Mahmud Magaji, SAN, said he was not opposed to the request for adjournment and the judge accordingly adjourned to May 10, for the PDP to appear before it to show cause why its May 28 presidential primary election should not be stopped.
Meanwhile, the PDP in a Notice of Preliminary Objection filed last Friday by Magaji, challenged the jurisdiction of the court to summon it over an issue it claimed bordered on its internal affairs.
According to the party, the subject matter of the case, which bordered on whether to zone its presidential ticket to any part of the country, was not an issue that the court had the mandate to decide.
The party, therefore, asked the court to strike out the suit for want of jurisdiction and also dismiss it for being “statute-barred”.
