Court stops PDP's planned convention

An Abuja High Court on Thursday ordered  the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) not to proceed with its planned national convention.

Justice Suleiman Belgore in  his ruling   asked the PDP to refrain from proceeding with the conduct or convocation of any form of convention 'whether special or ordinary,' for the purpose of electing any officer into the office of the PDP pending the determination of a suit filed by some aggrieved members of the party.

The court  however restrained from granting the applicants' prayer for interlocutory injunction nullifying the appointment of acting members of PDP's NWC and restraining the party's National Chairman, Bamanga Tukur from performing any of the NWC's functions pending the determination of the case.

The plaintiffs - Abba Yale, Yahaya Sule and Bashir Maigudu  –  had had filed an interlocutory application complaining against the decision of the party to appoint some people to act in the place of members of the PDP's national working committee, who resigned midway into the substantive suit that challenged the process of their election.

The implication of this judgement is that the PDP only has three members of the NWC and the Jerry Gana Committee appointed to conduct a fresh election at its congress scheduled for August must stop work.

The committee had fixed 31 August for a special convention where other national officers apart from the national chairman, the financial secretary, and the national auditor will be elected.