An umbrella association of professionals in the Peoples Democratic Party,PDP, the Save PDP Group, has accused the opposition parties of mapping out strategy to disrupt its forthcoming national convention.
The convention which will witness the election of new members of the National Working Committee of the party has been slated for August 31, 2013.
In a statement signed by Yusuf Galadima, Wale Ojukutu and Sunny Okafor, the group’s chairman, vice chairman and secretary respectively, they alleged that the plot was part of an orchestrated and well funded campaign to deny the PDP a credible voice to defend the policies and programmes of the party and the performances of its elected officials at all levels.
Save PDP group noted that its investigations have revealed that the opposition, using a Port Harcourt based lawyer, Okey Uzoho, a barely known PDP member, seek to apply all means to compromise and abuse the judiciary so as to secure a spurious court order to stop the election into the office of the National Publicity Secretary at the Special National Convention.
The group said one of such attempts was baseless and hurriedly put up appeal filed by Uzoho against PDP and INEC at the Appeal Court with Appeal No. CA/A/68/M/2013 instituted on July 19, 2013 in which he is stampeding the judiciary to grant an Order of Interlocutory Injunction restraining the party from putting up for contest the position of the National Publicity Secretary at the Special National Convention.
Continuing, “It is instructive to state that the appeal is based on an earlier suit with Suit No FCT/HC/CV/2805/2012 in which he alleged exclusion from contesting the position of the National Publicity Secretary at the 2012 Convention of the PDP, a matter that was thrown out at the Federal High Court and which has now been overtaken by events. Please find attached copies of the affidavit and other documents filed by the plaintiff.
“It is public knowledge that in compliance with INEC report which questioned the mode of elections of eight national officers of the PDP and their deputies at the 2012 National Convention, the eight national officers, including the National Publicity Secretary and their deputies, resigned in accordance with the directive of the National Executive Committee (NEC) on June 20, 2012.
The statement added that, “This summarily put to rest all issues surrounding elections into the affected positions at the 2012 Convention including that of the National Publicity Secretary and effectively opened all of them up for fresh contest.
“For the avoidance of doubt, following the decision of the National Executive Committee of the PDP in compliance with the INEC report, the position of the National Publicity Secretary and others affected by the INEC report became and remain vacant and all members of the party are absolutely free to seek elections into these offices at the Special National Convention.
“It is, therefore, clear that the plaintiff has no case but maliciously seeks to scuttle the election into the office of the National Publicity Secretary in order to deny PDP members the right to freely elect an official to defend the interest of the PDP.
“The plaintiff, as a lawyer, should indeed advice himself properly and desists from making himself an object of public ridicule. If he were still interested in the position of the National Publicity Secretary, he should have joined others in procuring nomination forms and join in the fresh contest at the Special National Convention. His suit at the Court of Appeal is, therefore, not only an abuse of judicial process but smacks of either crass mischief or downright stupidity,” the statement had read in parts.
Comentarios