A faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says the Court of Appeal has invalidated the recognition previously given to a caretaker committee and affirmed the authority of its Interim National Working Committee.
In a statement by Comrade Ini Ememobong, National Publicity Secretary of the Interim National Working Committee, the faction said the appellate court held that there were no longer any live issues in the appeal because the dispute centered on the party’s national convention, which had already been nullified by the Supreme Court.
According to the statement, the court also ruled that the portion of an earlier judgment recognizing the caretaker committee should not have been made because the issue was not before the court.
While the appellate court indicated that a retrial would ordinarily have been appropriate, it held that such a step would serve no useful purpose since the substantive issue had become academic.
The statement further claimed that the court affirmed the suspension of A.K. Ajibade and held that he lacked the authority to act on behalf of the party.
It added that the ruling also affected actions taken by former National Secretary Sam Anyanwu and others.
The faction said the judgment effectively nullified an earlier ruling of the Federal High Court in Ibadan, which it alleged was used by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognize the caretaker committee.
It called on INEC to withdraw that recognition and instead acknowledge the Interim National Working Committee led by Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, SAN.
Neither INEC nor officials of the caretaker committee had responded to the claims as of the time of filing this report.
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