NIGERIA: Appeal Court Nullifies Recognition Of PDP Caretaker Committee

By Onoja Baba, Nigeria 

The Court of Appeal has invalidated the recognition previously granted to a caretaker committee within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), ruling that the committee lacked legal standing and should not have been recognised by the court in the first place.

The development was disclosed in a statement issued on Tuesday by the National Publicity Secretary of the Interim National Working Committee of the PDP, Comrade Ini Ememobong.

According to the statement, the appellate court held that there were no longer any live issues in the appeal because the substantive matter related to the party’s national convention, which had already been nullified by the Supreme Court.

The court further held that the aspect of the earlier judgment recognising the caretaker committee was not an issue placed before the court for determination and therefore ought not to have formed part of the decision.

The appellate court reportedly stated that while the appropriate remedy would ordinarily have been to order a retrial, such a step would serve no useful purpose since the principal issue had become academic following the Supreme Court’s decision.

The Court of Appeal also affirmed the suspension of A.K. Ajibade and held that he lacked the authority to act on behalf of the party.

According to the statement, the ruling equally affects Sam Anyanwu and others associated with the matter.

The PDP Interim National Working Committee maintained that the judgment effectively nullifies the earlier decision of the Federal High Court in Ibadan, which had served as the basis for the recognition of the caretaker committee by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Following the judgment, the party called on INEC to immediately withdraw recognition from the caretaker committee and recognise the Interim National Working Committee led by Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, SAN, as the duly constituted leadership of the party.

The latest judgment is expected to have significant implications for the ongoing leadership dispute within the PDP and could influence future political developments within Nigeria’s main opposition party.