A Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has scheduled August 21, 2024, to deliver a ruling on legal representation for the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in a suit filed by the BOOT Party against Martins Amaewhule and twenty-four other members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
Members of the BOOT Party had filed a suit challenging the eligibility of Amaewhule and twenty-four others to still be considered members of the Assembly and the PDP after defecting to the All Progressive Congress, APC.
At the resumed hearing, the National Legal Adviser of the PDP, Kamaldeen Ajibade, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, filed an application requesting the court to bar Joshua Musa, SAN, who had announced his appearance for the state legal adviser.
Ajibade also sought to have all processes filed by Musa on behalf of the PDP scrapped, insisting that he should represent the party.
He referred the court to an affidavit of joinder presented by Musa, particularly paragraph 2, where the deponent, Kingsley Chukwu, clarified that he had obtained the instructions of the national body to join the matter.
Ajibade argued that two judgments from a Federal High Court presented by Musa did not deprive him, as the National Legal Adviser, of the sole right to oversee the legal affairs of the PDP but only touched on Article 42 of the party’s constitution.
He urged the court not to recognize Musa’s appearance as directed by the state legal adviser.
In response, Musa, urged the court to discountenance every submission made by Ajibade, relying on paragraph 2 of his affidavit in support of the joinder.
Musa further argued that the exhibits presented by Ajibade were unsigned documents and thus valueless, describing them as concocted documents.
He urged the court not to recognize Ajibade as the rightful representative of the PDP in the suit.
NewsNow reports that the presiding judge, Justice E.O. Obele, after listening to the parties, adjourned the case until August 21, 2024, for a ruling on the rightful person to represent the PDP in the suit and for a mention of the substantive suit.
Speaking to journalists outside the courtroom, Ajibade stated that the law is clear on who should represent a political party in legal matters.
He insisted that the national leadership of the PDP is aware that Amaewhule and 24 others have defected and thus, had lost their seats.
The court also adjourned to August 21, 2024, to hear a suit filed by members of a Civil Society Organization in Rivers State against the state governor, Amaewhule and 24 others.