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.
By Idris Saidu
365Daily – The crisis at the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has taken a new twist as the Federal High Court in Abuja has restrained its national leadership from removing the embattled national chairman, Umar Damagum, from office.
Justice Peter Lifu, gave the order in a virtual proceeding and monitored by newsmen in Abuja on Friday, October 11, 2024, delivered the judgment on Friday, wherein he stopped the PDP National Executive Committee (NEC) and Board of Trustees (BoT) not to recognise any other person as the party’s national chairman until the national convention of the party scheduled for December 2025.
The judge said this was in line with Articles 42, 47, and 67 of the PDP Constitution, which he said provide that national officers can only be elected at the national convention of the party.
The suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/579/2024, was instituted by Joshua Musa, SAN, on Sen. Umar Maina’s behalf, a self-acclaimed chairman of the PDP in Yobe, against 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, adding that a former Deputy Governor of Kogi, Dr Phillip Salawu, has been selected as a replacement for Damagun.
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 the 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 regions and not through any other procedure not enshrined in its constitution.
Delivering the judgment, Justice Lifu agreed with the plaintiff that Damagum could only be replaced at the national convention of PDP or through an order of a court.
He also held that any attempt to truncate the 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.