By Ikechukwu Nnochiri
AN Abuja High Court sitting in Maitama, yesterday, declined to invoke its original jurisdiction and compel the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to enforce its controversial zoning arrangement, just as it equally struck out a suit seeking to stop President Goodluck Jonathan from vying for presidency under the party’s umbrella in the 2011 elections.

Meanwhile, the Goodluck/Sambo Campaign Organisation has commended the court ruling, saying the court agreed with its view that rotation and zoning are political issues that are within the prerogative of political parties to determine.

The plaintiff, Alhaji Sani Aminu Dutsima, had dragged the party and its national chairman, Chief Okwesilieze Nwodo, before the high court, contending that he championed the bastardization of the PDP constitution in order to pave the way for Jonathan to contest presidency on the platform of the party .

He had through his lawyer, Mr. Joseph Obialor, argued that the Northern region of the country still have till 2015 to relinquish presidential power to other regions.

Delivering judgment on the matter yesterday, Chief Judge of the Federal Capital Territory, Justice Lawal Hassan Gunmi, held that although Article 7.2 (c) of the PDP constitution, 2009, as amended, recognised the principle of zoning and rotation of party and elective offices, but that “the power to nominate and sponsor candidates to an election is vested in a political party and the exercise of this right is the domestic affair of the party.”

Refusing to order the PDP to enforce its contested zoning principle, the court, however, maintained that the onus was on the party to respect the provisions of the said Article 7.2(c), stressing that it was subsisting and binding on the party, its organs and members, despite the fact that it remained a political question that is non justiceable in the court of law.

Jonathan/Sambo campaign lauds verdict

A statement signed by the organisation’s Director of Media and Publicity, Sully Abu said: “Our great party determined this matter on August 12, 2010 when the National Executive Committee decided unanimously that it retains zoning and rotation as a policy for deepening national unity and integration within the context of the right of every Nigerian to aspire to the highest office in the country under the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“It is in compliance with this policy that President Goodluck Jonathan declared his aspiration last September.

“In spite of this unambiguous policy of the party, which is binding on all members, some presidential aspirants and their associates have persisted in the quest to restrict the presidential contest and, specifically, exclude President Jonathan.

“We hope that by this court judgment that has vindicated President Jonathan’s aspiration, every member of the party would refocus their search for a presidential candidate whose vision and aspirations tally with those of the majority of Nigerians who want the transformation of Nigeria into a stable and prosperous country.

Thanks N-West Govs

“It is also against this background that we also welcome the decision of the North-West governors of the PDP to reiterate their support for the President’s aspiration. This declaration once again demonstrates the broad support the President enjoys across the country.

The judgment further read thus, “a call upon the court to order the 1st Defendant to sponsor a candidate from the North in the spirit of Art 7.2 (c) is clearly a political question which only the relevant organ of the party can decide either at its primaries or by a decision of any organ of the party empowered to so choose.

“The court is not a regulatory commission, a court must distinguish itself from political institutions by limiting itself to the resolution of concrete cases and controversies according to given standards of law.

“Forcing a political party to sponsor candidates from a certain zone in the country is clearly delving into the internal affairs of that party. I endorse the general principle that the court should respect the independence of parties and refrain from pronouncing or determining the validity of the internal workings of such parties. However, if a party’s constitution makes a provision as to how its affairs should be run, it must be run in that manner, and the court is duty bound to ensure that the party complies with its constitution’s requirements.

“In this case, the constitution of the 1st Defendant simply recognizes zoning and rotation. It has not provided for how that rotation or zoning would be carried out. It has not stated that any part of the country would hold the position of the president or public elective office for any specified period of time.

“for the court to therefore insist or order that only candidates from a particular zone should be sponsored when the constitution of the 1st Defendant has not so defined terms and conditions, is an invitation for the court to enter into the political thicket. Self restraint in matters such as this is a virtue the court must cultivate” the court stated.

Meanwhile, shortly after the judgment was delivered yesterday, another plaintiff, Mr. Cyriacus Njoku, who had equally gone before the court with a view to stop president Jonathan from partaking in the PDP primaries, informed the court that he wishes to withdraw his own suit.

His lawyer, Mr Ugochukwu Osuagwu, told the high court that his client was no longer ready to continue the case, insisting that it was substantially similar in facts with the one that was already pronounced upon yesterday.

Following a ‘no objection’ response by counsel to President Jonathan, Mr Alex A. Izinyon, SAN, presiding Justice Gunmi accordingly struck-out the suit as requested.