For a second time, Federal High Court, Abuja has adjourned the case involving Rt. Hon. Friday Iwok and 30 others versus Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to June 14, 2022 for hearing of oral applications.
Iwok and 30 others had filed the suit on May 4, 2022 against INEC, PDP and 229 others, challenging the PDP Ward Congresses that led to the election of three ad-hoc delegates from each of the 329 electoral wards in Akwa Ibom State.
The plaintiffs who are supporters of Senator Bassey Albert Akpan, a PDP Governorship aspirant, are seeking the order of the court to nullify the April 30, 2022 Akwa Ibom PDP Ad-Hoc delegates congress, fearing that the government is using the party to favour Pastor Umo Eno, the PDP Governorship candidate in the state.
The Court, Abuja, presided by Justice Obiora Egwuatu which resumed hearing early on the matter on Monday, June 1, 2022, later adjourned it to 2.06 p.m same day.
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The lawyer for the plaintiffs, Ahmed Raji, SAN, had appealed for additional time to study the additional preliminary objections raised by the 2nd, 3rd to 331st defendants.
Uwemedimo Nwoko, SAN, Counsel to the 2nd Defendant, agreed with the arguments on the need to exhaust the preliminary objections challenging the jurisdiction of the court and the locus standi of the petitioners.
Recall that the Court had adjourned the case to Wednesday, June 1, 2022 for further hearing on preliminary objections by the defendants.
It urged the parties in the case to avoid delaying the process, but to help the Court accelerate hearing following the limited judicial time frame for pre-election matters.
Appearing on behalf of the Plaintiffs, Ahmed Raji had argued that the 2nd -331st Defendants, PDP, and its Ad-hoc Delegates committed a contempt of court by ignoring the Status Quo Ante Bellum order of the court, and urged the court to cancel the outcome of all the primaries which commenced from Sunday, May 22 in Akwa Ibom State.
Raji argued that “It is contempt by the violators but we are only asking that the court sets aside all actions taken by the defendants after being served with the order of the court.
“If the order to maintain status quo is not obeyed, they will likely not obey the final judgement,” Raji roared.
However, Paul Usoro, SAN appearing for PDP, 2nd Defendant reasoned that “assuming without conceding, that Ahmed Raji is correct, before the court is the preliminary objection on jurisdiction which PDP filed yesterday challenged the locus standi of the plaintiff and the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the suit.”
He argued that, “Contempt occurs when an order of the court is flouted.”
Usoro reasoned that, “The position of the law is that where a person accused is alleging jurisdiction competence, the jurisdiction should be first decided.
“Without jurisdiction, all the orders from that court is invalid, he said, citing earlier judicial precedents. Based on that, I urge the Court to proceed with the preliminary objections and the substantive suit to determine the matter once and for all.
“We all agree with His Lordship to manage the judicial time and proceed with the substantive matter, as confirmed by Ahmed Raji.
“I personally looked at the order of the court and it was an advice which I believe was well intended by His lordship, but the other parties(the Ad-hoc delegates) who were same day joined in the matter, were not even given time to articulate their case and I don’t think His lordship would have given an order against such people”.
Paul Usoro further posited that, “we also appealed the pronouncement (status quo Ante Bellum) in the event that our brother (Counsel to the Plaintiffs) makes the kind of submissions he has just made.
“To manage judicial time, I urge for the preliminary objections to be addressed.”
In his argument, Counsel to the 3rd -331st respondents, Uwemedimo Nwoko adopted the position of the 2nd Defendant, adding that the Court had not made any order.
He reminded the court that a restraining order against the Ad-hoc Delegates was sought four times by the Plaintiffs and the court refused to grant their request.
Nwoko argued that the court only advised parties to behave well by using the legal term Status Quo Ante Bellum.
He said since it was not a restraining order, the Congress of the PDP was held and it was in compliance with the Electoral Act, 2022 as amended, which forbids the court from stopping the primaries and elections.
“We have filed notice of preliminary objections submitted yesterday. We also filed motion for stay of execution, in other to stay on the side of caution.”
Nwoko urged the Court to ignore the call for the cancellation of the primaries and rather focus on the preliminary objections which argues that the plaintiffs had no locus standi to challenge the ward Ad-hoc Congresses in Akwa Ibom State, having not shown any evidence that they contested for the PDP Ad-hoc Delegates primaries in the State.
“Someone in this court erroneously published that the court’s Status Quo Ante Bellum advice, was an order stopping the PDP primaries, whereas my lord never made such order. Now everyone in Uyo, from traders, to transporters and business men are now chanting Status Quo Ante Bellum everywhere.
“In fact, Status Quo Ante Bellum now walks on two legs on the streets of Uyo,” Nwoko said.
Attempts by Counsel to Plaintiffs, Ahmed Raji to insist on the contempt appeal was waved aside as the Justice Egwuatu told him that it amounted to asking the court to stop the Primaries.
Earlier, Counsel to the first Defendant, INEC, Mr Abdullaziz Sani, had said the practice was to avoid crying more than the bereaved.
“I have gone through all the processes served on me, I observed that throughout the bulk of the originating summons documents, the name of the 1st defendant was only mentioned in the 6th paragraph and it merely defined our responsibility. I therefore opt to sit on the fence on the matter’’
During the sitting, the court had agreed that 329 wards representing the 987 elected delegates of the PDP be joined in the suit by the Plaintiffs.
Despite the court jaw jaw, the ad-hoc delegates from Akwa Ibom joined their contemporaries from other states in the federation and participated in the just-concluded PDP Presidential primary in Abuja from May 28-29, 2022.
The convention produced Alhaji Abubakar Atiku as the party’s standard bearer.
