Isaac Samuel
The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal filed by a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) linked to Seyi Makinde, thereby affirming an earlier ruling that barred the party from proceeding with a disputed national convention.
The petition was filed by a faction led by former Minister of Special Duties, Kabiru Turaki, challenging the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court over a suit concerning the party’s proposed convention in Ibadan.
In a unanimous judgment delivered by a three-member panel on Monday, the appellate court upheld the decision of the Federal High Court, which restrained the party from holding the planned convention in Ibadan.
The court also affirmed the order stopping the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from recognising or validating the proposed convention.
The appeal was among several suits filed by party stakeholders challenging the lower court’s jurisdiction to hear the matter and its decision to halt the convention.
However, the appellate court held that the Federal High Court was competent to entertain the suit, dismissing arguments that the dispute constituted an internal affair of the party.
According to the panel, the appellants could not “repackage a clear violation of the party constitution and that of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as an internal party affair.”
The court consequently dismissed the appeal and awarded costs against the appellants.
