By Halimah Olamide
The Federal High Court in Abuja, on Friday, restrained the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s national leadership from removing Mr Umar Damagum as the acting national chairman of the party.
Justice Peter Lifu, in a virtual proceeding delivered the judgment on Friday.
Justice Lifu ordered the PDP National Executive Committee (NEC) and Board of Trustees (BoT) not to recognised any other person as party’s national chairman until the national convention of the party scheduled for December 2025.
The judge held that in line with Articles 42, 47 and 67 of PDP, it is only at the national convention of the party that national officers can be elected.
He said that PDP members are bound by the constitution of the party and as such must always act in line with the provisions and obedience to the party’s law.
The suit, marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/579/2024, was instituted by Joshua Musa, SAN, on Sen. Umar Maina’s behalf.
The plaintiff, who claimed to be chairman of PDP in Yobe, sued the PDP and eight others.
He alleged that some stakeholders of the party had been holding clandestine meetings to forcefully remove Damagum from office in gross violation of the party’s constitution.
He said that a former Deputy Governor of Kogi, Dr Phillip Salawu, was being pushed forward as replacement for Damagun by the stakeholders.
Maina claimed that upon becoming aware of the plan, two separate letters complaining against the clandestine meetings were delivered to the national secretary of the party, Sen. Samuel Anyanwu.
He said despite the acknowledgment of the two letters, the national secretary and BoT members had never deemed it fit to act on the letters and their claims.
He, therefore, prayed the court to invoke Articles 45, 47 and 67 of PDP Constitution to stop the move to replace Damagum as the acting national chairman.
The plaintiff specifically asked the court to declare that the national chairmanship of PDP is rotated between the north and south region and not through any other procedure not enshrined in its constitution.
Delivering the judgment, Justice Lifu agreed with the plaintiff that Damagum can only be replaced at the national convention of PDP or through an order of a court.
He also held that any attempt to truncate un-exhausted four years tenure of the northern region without the national convention of the party would amount to an affront to the constitution of the PDP.