A member of the Caretaker Committee, PDP, and Lawyer, Okey Osuoha has said that the recent judgement of the Court of Appeal on the PDP’s Convention is a landmark judgment.
He said this while discussing with ARISE NEWS on Monday.
This follows after the Court of Appeal barred PDP from holding a convention, saying the planned convention violated existing laws.
“The judgment today was, I mean, it was a landmark judgment because in our legal jurisprudence, I’m a lawyer, it enriches our legal jurisprudence because there’s takeaways”, he declared.
“The justices were able to describe and they, in fact, even educated the politicians that we are treading the rascality involved in our system because we’re in a democracy. This is a country that practices democracy and democracy must thrive by the rule of law”, he noted.
Osuoha noted that the Court clarified that not all party matters are purely “internal affairs”, emphasising that if a party’s actions violate the law, including its own constitution, the Electoral Act, or the Constitution of Nigeria, the courts can intervene.
“The matter bordering on internal, but the court said today, it was not internal affairs. And those two substantive judgments stated that there should be no convention. They barred PDP from going for convention based on the fact that they were violations of the extant laws of the land. And that was why the Court of Appeal today lifted that veil, that veil that people have been erroneously believing that everything that happens in the party is internal affairs of the party.
“The court said no, that if in as much as the Supreme Court said that party affairs, you should not be bothering court always with party matters, you should handle it internally. But you should handle it in accordance with the rule of law, obedience to the extant laws of the land in accordance with the law of the land. And those laws are like those extant laws are the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Electoral Act and even the Constitution of the party”, he explained.
Speaking on the Senate’s mocking of PDP and LP, Okey Osuoha described the comments as disheartening and stressed that laws and court judgments exist to maintain peace, order, and good governance.
“What I will say is that the comment you said the Senate President Akpabio made about PDP and Labor. I mean, it’s very disheartening because I’m beginning to see Nigerians as very stubborn. They are very difficult people to manage and to govern. Let me tell you: why are laws made? I studied law. Law is made for the peace, order, and good governance of our country and our society so that there will be no anarchy”, he said.
Osuoha further confirmed that the party has given notice to INEC, and that the convention is scheduled for the 29th and 30th of the month.
He however assured that the PDP will follow proper procedures, involve all relevant leadership, and internal opposition cannot stop it.
“Convention is coming, already. We have given notice to INEC. We are doing our convention by the 29th and 30th of this month. After the convention, we produce national officers and do our primaries in accordance with the electoral timetable and we produce our candidate.
“All of them!. That’s all I will tell you. I’m advising my brother and his group: they should now know that the game is over”, he concluded.
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