A breaking story on Friday afternoon, November 14, that Abuja Federal High Court Judge Justice Peter Lifu has stopped tomorrow’s [Saturday’s] national convention of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) recalls to mind a similar incident that happened to the opposition All Nigeria Peoples Party [ANPP] in July 2002.
Thousands of delegates and other supporters are already in Ibadan, Oyo State for the PDP convention, but Justice Lifu ruled that it must not go ahead until a chairmanship nomination form is made available to ex-Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido. PDP, the judge ruled, by its conduct, had breached its own party’s guidelines and constitution and that it must obey its own constitution.
In July 2002, Justice Usman Kusherki [now late] stopped ANPP’s national convention in Abuja when thousands of delegates were already in town. During his live TV chat, then President Olusegun Obasanjo described the judge’s action as “wicked!” National Judicial Council [NJC] subsequently recommended the judge’s retirement from the bench, which Obasanjo accepted.
This time though, Justice Lifu has very good grounds to issue the order. In the run up to the convention, PDP leaders, meaning its [shrinking] rank of governors, adopted Barrister Kabiru Tanimu Turaki as their consensus candidate for National Chairman. But when Lamido insisted on contesting, as he has the right to do, PDP secretariat engaged in a game of shenanigans to prevent him from collecting the form. The party’s Organizing Secretary responsible for selling the forms was said to have disappeared, so Lamido went to court.
Luckily, Justice Life’s order left an opening for PDP to grab. He said the national convention should be put on hold until Lamido is allowed to exercise his constitutional right to contest. The judge also barred INEC from monitoring, supervising or recognising the outcome of the convention “until the party does the needful.” In fact, this order is only one of several, contradictory High Court orders that has dogged the PDPconvention, many of them orchestrated by the faction loyal to FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, obviously meant to kill the main opposition party in order to assist President Bola Tinubu’s re-election chances in 2027.
PDP leaders can overcome this hurdle by granting Sule Lamido the nomination form and allowing him to contest at the Ibadan convention. The governors have however achieved their aim already, because Lamido has been denied the time to mount a campaign for the high office.
