Gideon Arinze
The campaign organisation of former deputy president of the senate and governorship aspirant in Enugu State, Ike Ekweremadu, has vowed to appeal a federal High Court ruling, which upheld the ward congresses conducted by the Enugu State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The organisation had filed a suit seeking to uphold the list of a three-man ad-hoc panel, which according to it, emanated in compliance to the PDP Constitution and Guidelines for the Election of Three-Man Delegates and National Delegates in the 30th April 2022 Ward Congress of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Enugu State.
The organisation disagreed with a section of the party loyal to Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi over the party’s decision to zone the 2023 governorship slot to Enugu East, a decision that excluded his Enugu West from the contest.
Members of the organisation, who were candidates in the three-man delegates election, had gone to court to validate the parallel ward congresses after they were not satisfied with the conduct of the exercise by Ugwuanyi’s group.
They also sought an order restraining the Independent National Electoral Commission from accepting the list of delegates for the PDP primaries in the state.
But in a ruling on the suit yesterday, the court sitting in Abuja, held that the ward congress for the election of three-man delegate from the 260 Electoral Wards of Enugu State remained valid and that the list should be used to elect candidates contesting for the 2023 elections.
Reacting to the ruling, the Campaign Organisation said it would appeal the judgement, urging its supporters to remain calm as this is just the court of first instance.
In a statement by its Director-General, Charles Asogwa, the organisation said, “It received with shock, the judgment of the Federal High Court, Abuja, dismissing the suit seeking to uphold the list of three-man ad-hoc that truly emanated in compliance to the PDP Constitution and Guidelines for the Election of Three-Man Delegates and National Delegates in the 30th April 2022 Ward Congress of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Enugu State.
“Our lawyers have been directed to immediately file a Notice of Appeal against the judgment and we will surely pursue the matter to a logical conclusion,” it said, adding: “We trust God and believe that victory will be ours eventually, for no matter how fast falsehood and injustice appear to travel, truth and justice will ultimately overtake both in the fullness of time”.
