Turaki-led PDP asks INEC to derecognise Wike-backed faction after Appeal Court ruling

In a statement issued on Wednesday, Comrade Ini Ememobong, national publicity secretary of the interim National Working Committee (NWC), said the appellate court invalidated the basis upon which the caretaker committee was recognised.

Ememobong said lawyers representing the faction informed the interim NWC that the court held there were no longer any live issues in the appeal because the substantive dispute centred on the party’s national convention, which had been nullified by the supreme court.

According to the statement, the court also held that the lower court ought not to have recognised the caretaker committee because the issue was not before it.

Part of the statement read: “The court also held, inter alia, that the part of the judgment recognising the Caretaker Committee was not an issue before the court and therefore ought not to have been made in the first place.

“On this score, the court said that the right decision would have been to order a retrial, but in the circumstance where the main issue has become academic, a retrial will serve no useful purpose.”

The statement further claimed that the court affirmed the suspension of A.K. Ajibade and held that he lacked authority to act on behalf of the party.

“Furthermore, the Court also affirmed the suspension of A.K. Ajibade (and by extension Sam Anyanwu and co.) and held that he had no power to act on behalf of the Party,” Ememobong said.

The Turaki-led faction said the judgment effectively nullified an earlier ruling of the Federal High Court in Ibadan, adding that INEC should immediately withdraw recognition from the caretaker committee and recognise the interim national working committee led by Kabiru Tanimu Turaki.

“The Independent National Electoral Commission, which used the FHC judgment as its basis for recognising the illegal Caretaker Committee, is expected to immediately derecognise them and now recognise the duly constituted Interim National Working Committee led by Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, SAN,” the statement concluded.