By Ikechukwu Nnochiri

ABUJA—Getting a consensus flag-bearer for the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, was a tortuous headache for the party that it needed the interventions of the courts.

The case was eventually transferred to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, which at various times, published names of the two major contenders for the PDP governorship ticket- Eyitayo Jegede, SAN, and Jimoh Ibrahim.

MR Eyitayo Jegede, SAN, is the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in the governorship election in Ondo state

Whereas Jegede emerged from the primary election that was sanctioned by the Senator Ahmed Markarfi-led National Working Committee NWC, of the PDP, Ibrahim on the other hand, secured his ticket from the Ondo State Executive Committee of the party which is loyal to PDP faction under the leadership of Senator Ali Modu-Sheriff.

Shortly after INEC published Jegede’s name, chieftains of the party from six states in the Southwest, led by the Ondo State Chairman, Prince Biyi Poroye, approached the Federal High Court in Abuja, asking it to among other things, determine the organ of the party that has power to nominate candidates to INEC.

Cited as defendants in the matter were PDP and INEC.

Meanwhile, efforts by the Markarfi-led faction to be joined as an interested party in the matter was refused by the presiding judge, Justice Okon Abang who declined to grant audience to their lawyer, Mr. Emmanuel Ukala, SAN.

The court said it only recognised Mr. O. Fakunle, SAN, as representative of the party. Fakunle was briefed by the Modu-Sheriff group.

Meantime, Justice Abang, on June 29, delivered his verdict favouring the Sheriff inclined plaintiffs.

In his verdict, Justice Abang ordered INEC to recognise and only relate with the Modu-Sheriff group.

Following the alleged refusal by INEC to comply with the order, the plaintiffs initiated contempt proceeding against the electoral body, citing the continued retention of Jegede’s name on its list of candidates for the Ondo poll.

Consequently, Justice Abang, in a ruling on October 14, reaffirmed its earlier verdict of June 29, even as he ordered INEC to immediately replace Jegede’s name with that of Mr. Ibrahim.
Interestingly, neither Jegede nor Ibrahim were originally cited as Respondents in the substantive suit.

Acting on the strength of the order, INEC, promptly substituted Jegede with Ibrahim.

Enraged by the action of the electoral body, Jegede approached the high court for leave to appeal the verdict as an interested party, an application Justice Abang rejected.

He also refused another application by the Markafi committee to appeal the judgment.

Not deterred, Jegede and Markafi on October 27, filed the same application before the Abuja Division of the Court of appeal.

On November 10, the appellate court granted them leave to appeal the high court verdict.

However, on November 16, when the appeal came up for hearing, the Poroye led group who were cited as respondents, through their counsel, Chief Beluolisa Nwufor, SAN, challenged jurisdiction of the appellate court to entertain the suits.

Nwufor said his clients had on November 11, lodged an appeal before the Supreme Court against not only the leave granted to the appellants, but also powers of the appellate court to accelerate hearing on a pre-election matter which they said required no urgency.

They also queried decision of President of the Court of Appeal to constitute a Special Panel to hear the appeals.

The respondents insisted that if the appeals must be heard at all, the appellate court Registry should allow the case to take due turn in the docket.

They, therefore, begged the Supreme Court to disband the Justice Ibrahim Saulawa led three-man Special Panel.

Following their motion at the apex court, the appeal court panel, on November 18, stayed all proceedings relating to the Ondo PDP crisis.

The panel, which had already concluded hearing on Jegede’s case, suspended its verdict to await the decision of the Supreme Court which was finally given last Tuesday.

Aside dismissing motions to stay proceedings of the appellate court, the Supreme Court, awarded a beneficial cost of N1 million to each of the three Justices of the appellate court

The Acting CJN, Justice Onnoghen who delivered the lead ruling, ordered that counsel to the appellants, Chief Nwufor, SAN, should personally pay the cost from his pocket.

The apex court further ordered the appellants to pay N500, 000 cost to the four other respondents in the matter among whom included Jegede.

Justice Onnoghen held that it was wrong for Poroye and his group to drag the appellate court justices into the matter knowing that they were only carrying out a judicial duty that was duly assigned to them.

He stressed that joining them as respondents in the matter “was not only an attempt to intimidate and scandalise the judiciary but to put it in a mild way, an action in bad faith.”

The Supreme Court, however, agreed to look into the substantive suit challenging leave that was granted to Jegede to appeal the high court judgment.

Following the decision of the Supreme Court, the Justice Saulawa panel, on Wednesday, delivered the suspended verdict, even as it declared Jegede as the rightful candidate of the PDP for the governorship contest.

The appellate court then vacated the judgment of Justice Abang which it described as “a fraud.”

It held that Justice Abang’s refusal of to grant fair hearing to Jegede, Markafi and Obi, “rendered the entire proceedings before his court a nullity.”