More reactions have emerged following the political rancour brewing in the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in Rivers State.
The latest reaction is coming from the former Chairman of Fresh Democratic Party and the South-South Chairman of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties, Rev (Dr.) Miniabi Dagogo-Jack who condemned the court ruling that removed the G.U Ake led PDP in Rivers State.
Speaking to Journalists in Port Harcourt, Dr. Dagogo-Jack said the Independent Electoral Commission, INEC and the Nigerian Judiciary are no longer relevant in the country.
He stated that if INEC which is saddled with the responsibility of monitoring and overseeing elections in the country had been effective in their responsibilities, there would not have been any fall-out in the political strata of the state as INEC would have provided every necessary document needed to confirm the eligibility of Ake as the Chairman of the party in the state.
According to him, “In a normal political setting, mixed reactions to issues is not uncommon. There is one thing to give a judgement and there is another thing to accept the judgement. I have shouted over the radio and other media that INEC is the major cause of this problem”.
“The law foresaw that after a state congress of any political party, there could be grievances. So I suspect that is why the law provided a neutral person in the name of INEC who is the umpire to monitor elections and make sure the congress of political parties is in line with the constitution. So is INEC telling us at this point in time that the congress that brought out G.U. Ake is not in line with the constitution of the party? INEC have closed its mouth too much”.
However, still lamenting over the political imbalance trailing the PDP in the state, the CNPP Chieftain said the Judiciary should not be left out of the emerging arguments.
Dagogo-Jack hinted that the Judiciary is causing confusion in the state, thereby contradicting their own verdicts. He emphasized that there is suppose to be stipulated time for aggrieved persons to go to court after any election, but in this case, there seems to be no time limit.
He also questioned the validity of the judgement that confirmed G.U. Ake as the leader of the party and the most recent ruling from an Abuja High Court that sacked Ake and installed Hon. Felix Obuah as the new chairman of the party. He asked, “Why will aggrieved persons go to court after a long time?. Every election period has some limits. I also heard there was a High Court ruling that okayed the G.U. Ake executives. Now there is a High Court verdict from Abuja on a matter in Rivers state. So if people are reacting, which of the court verdicts are they reacting against. The Judiciary and INEC have questions to answer. They are causing problems in Rivers State”
It would be recalled that a Federal High court sitting in Abuja dissolved the executives of the Rivers state PDP led by Chief Godpower Ake and subsequently confirmed Hon. Felix Obuah (a.k.a Go Round) as the original winner of the PDP state congress held in 2012, a court order that is currently heating up politics in the country.
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