By Kenneth Onuoha
An Ebonyi State High Court sitting in Abakiliki, the state capital, on Thursday restrained the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and its National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, from dissolving the State Working Committee (SWC) of the party in Ebonyi State.
The order followed a motion ex parte brought before it by the chairman of the dissolved executive committee, Barrister Onyekachi Nwebonyi and others, against the PDP, its National Chairman, Secondus, and the newly constituted PDP caretaker Committee in the state led by Chief Fred Udeogu.
Recall that the NWC of the PDP had in the wake of the defection of Governor David Umahi to the All Progressives Congress (APC), announced the dissolution of the Nwebonyi-led SWC and appointed, instead, a Caretaker Committee to run the affairs of the party.
Dissatisfied by the action of the PDP NWC, Nwebonyi and two others, namely Francis Ori, an engineer, representing the purportedly dissolved PDP executives in the 13 LGAs of the state and Emeka Ogbu, representing the purportedly dissolved PDP executives in 171 wards in the State, took the matter to court.
In a motion filed by Barrister Roy Umahi, on behalf of Nwebonyi and the others, the plaintiffs had sort for an “order of interim injunction, restraining the 1st and 2nd Defendants by themselves, their servants, agents and/or privies by whatever name called and/or described from dissolving the SWC of the PDP in Ebonyi state and from continuance of the purported dissolution or giving effect to the purported dissolution of the Ebonyi SWC of the PDP at State, Local Government and Ward levels elected and inaugurated on the 8th day of August, 2020, 21st day of March, 2020 and 14th day of March, 2020, respectively, pending the hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice already filed.”
They also sort an “order of interim injunction restraining the defendants from the continuance of the purported establishment of the composition or the recognition of the Caretaker Committee, pending the determination of the motion on notice, already filed.”
The plaintiffs also prayed the court to “restrain the 1st and 2nd defendants by themselves, their agents, and/or privies by whatever name called or described from inaugurating, transferring to, and/or vesting on the 3rd to 11th Defendants or any other persons or group the authorities, powers, and/or functions exercised by the members of Ebonyi SWC of the PDP at state, local government and wards levels, pending the determination of the hearing and determination of the motion on notice already filed.”
They also sought for an “order of interim injunction restraining the 3rd to 11th Defendants or any other persons or group by themselves, their servants, agents and/or privies by whatever name called and/or described from parading themselves as Caretaker Committee members in charge of the Ebonyi state chapter of the PDP and /or exercising or usurping all or any of the powers and functions of the Ebonyi SWC of the PDP at state, local government and ward levels, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice already filed.
The presiding judge, Justice Elvis Ngene, in his ruling, said he found merits in all the reliefs sort by the plaintiffs, and therefore, granted all of them.
Ngene also ordered substituted services on the defendants, and adjourned the matter to December 2, 2020.
Counsel to the plaintiffs, Umahi, in an interview, applauded the court for granting all the reliefs sought, adding that “rulings like this, is the one that advances the tenets of democracy”.
Speaking with 365Daily, an elated Nwebonyi described the ruling as a victory for internal democracy in the country’s political party system and for the PDP in Ebonyi state.