BEVERLY HILLS, November 27, (THEWILL) – The Lt. Gen. Aliyu Kama-led caretaker committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Anambra State has been sacked.
An Abuja court presided over by Justice Evoh Chukwu sacked the caretaker committee in his ruling on a suit filed by a former chairman of the party in the state, Ken Emekeanyi, who had asked the court to extend his tenure till 2017.
Justice Chukwu dismissed the suit saying it constituted an abuse of court process because similar suits were pending before another court of coordinate jurisdiction. He also sacked the Kama-led caretaker committee, which was set up while the suit was pending.
He said though the suit constituted an abuse of court process, the setting up of the caretaker committee , contrary to the undertaking by the party’s lawyers, was tantamount to foisting a state of helplessness on the court, stressing that “This impunity and judicial terrorism must stop.”
The plaintiff was elected the PDP vice chairman in Anambra State in 2000 and was sworn in as the state chairman when the former occupant of the office, Emmanuel Nweze, resigned in 2013.
In the suit dated November 6, Emekeanyi asked the court to declare that his tenure would only start to run in 2013 when he was recognised as the state chairman of the party, contending that he ought to remain in office till 2017, when his four-year tenure would elapse.
But the judge , who said the suit amounted to a forum-shopping,
ruled that the suit constituted an abuse of court process because there were multiple of such suits existed in various courts.
“I must in strong term condemn this reckless forum-shopping by the plaintiff. His (Emekeanyi’s) executive came into power in 2010 but was refused to function until 2013. Going by the constitution of the party, his tenure elapsed on October 24, 2013. So his argument that his tenure started running in 2013 recognised holds no water and I so hold.
“It is only governors under our law that their four-year tenure starts to run from the day they took oath of office. Having said that, this suit which is a gross abuse of court process is hereby dismissed.
“It is further ordered that the act of appointing caretaker committee by the fourth defendant which is an abuse of court process e is also set aside and nullified,” the judge ruled.
Earlier, the court had dismissed the argument of the PDP, represented by Chief Olusola Oke, that the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the suit, because the election of a party chairman was an internal affair of the party.
The court also dismissed the contention that it lacked jurisdiction on the grounds that the plaintiff failed to exhaust internal remedy of the party before approaching the court.
The court only upheld the contention of the defendants in their notices of preliminary objection that the suit amounted to an abuse of court process because of the existence of other suits on the same subject matter in other courts.
In a related development, a Federal High Court , Thursday , dismissed the suit filed by a PDP governorship aspirant in Akwa Ibom State, Umanah Okon Umanah, challenging the decision of the party to exclude him from the party primaries.
A lawsuit involving Roberta Nyong against the PDP was also dismissed on the ground that the court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the matter.
Umanah had also challenged the legality of the November 1 ward delegate congress of the party in the state.
But in his ruling , Justice Adeniyi Ademola struck out the suit on the ground that the court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the matter, describing it as a mere academic exercise.
The court also said that members must abide with the principle of rotation entrenched in PDP constitution, saying it is in line with section 223 of the 1999 constitution.
Umanah had challenged the November 1 ward delegate congress in which he claimed he was unlawfully excluded after he had bought the governorship nomination and expression of interest form for N11 million.
The judge said that his court had no jurisdiction to entertain the suit because it bordered on intra-party affairs.
Justice Ademola described the suit as premature, speculative and disclosed no cause of action because there was no indication that he would be excluded at the time he rushed to the court.
The justice upheld the preliminary objection raised by the PDP through its counsel. Paul Usoro, SAN.
The court further held that the plaintiff had not suffered any injury to warrant the invocation of the court’s jurisdiction.
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