By Adeleke Adesiri, Ola Ajayi, Ben Agande &Ikechukwu Nnochiri
LAGOS — A LAST ditch effort by loyalists of Governor Gbenga Daniel to supplant associates of President Olusegun Obasanjo in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, list of candidates for the forthcoming election failed in court, yesterday, on the deadline for the substitution of candidates for the April 16 gubernatorial and State Houses of Assembly elections.

Respite, however, came the way of Governors Adebayo Alao_Akala, Theodore Orji and Liyel Imoke of Oyo, Abia and Cross River states respectively as they were confirmed by the courts as gubernatorial candidates of the PDP.

Gov Daniel confident
Governor Daniel was, however, full of confidence despite the court action saying that his faction of the party would eventually triumph.

The final day for substitution of gubernatorial candidates passed with the Daniel faction failing in its bid to place its candidate, Adegboyega Isiaka, as the PDP candidate for Ogun State.

A Federal High Court in Abuja struck out an application brought by Governor Daniel’s faction of the PDP, in Ogun State seeking to vacate the interim order restraining INEC, from recognizing the nomination of its factional governorship candidate, Adegboyega Nasir Isiaka.

Presiding Justice Abdul Kafarati, threw out the application after counsel to the embattled faction, Chief Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, applied to withdraw same owing to an agreement by all the parties in the suit to proceed with hearing the substantive suit on its merit.

Consequently Justice Kafarati adjourned the matter till today to begin hearing on the action instituted before him by the faction loyal to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who on January 26, secured the interim order that restrained the electoral body from recognizing other candidates of the PDP in Ogun State except themselves.

The court order effectively put Isiaka out of the gubernatorial contest.

Those behind the suit are the factional PDP gubernatorial candidate in the state, Chief Adetunji Olurin, Babatunde Fadun, Hon. Dave Salako, Mr. Wale Solaja and Seun Adesa.

They are seeking an order of the court voiding the legitimacy of the Joju Fadairo led executive committee of the PDP in Ogun State which conducted the primaries that favoured the Gov Daniel’s faction of the party.

Following the decision of the high court to commence hearing on the main issues before it, counsel to the plaintiffs, Chief Olagoke Fakunle, SAN, equally withdrew a contempt application it ab_initio filed against the Daniel’s faction who it accused of violating a subsisting court order by presenting Isiaka to electorate in the state as the bona_fide gubernatorial candidate of the PDP in Ogun State despite the restraining order against them.

Justice Kafarati had specifically ordered that “the 1st Respondent, INEC, and 2nd Respondent, PDP, are restrained from accepting, compiling, announcing, using, validating or otherwise acting upon the results of the primaries/congresses conducted in Ogun State pending the hearing of the Originating Summons.

“That the Respondents are restrained from announcing or making any pronouncement validating the result of the primaries/congresses conducted in Ogun State by the dissolved Ogun State Executive Committee of the 2nd Respondent pending the hearing of the Originating Summons.”

The Judge was yet to delve into the contempt charge before him as counsel to the PDP, Chief Fagbemi, who is representing the interest of the Daniel’s faction, insisted that the court should hear a preliminary objection he had initially raised against the propriety of the interim order first.

PDP had told the high court that it would only recognize list compiled and submitted to it by the Chief Fadairo-led Executive Committee in Ogun State.

While urging the court to vacate the restraining order which it said was made in error, the party equally maintained that it would only issue tickets to candidates that emerged from primaries conducted by its Executive Committee.

Speaking on the development yesterday, Governor Daniel told Vangaurd: “Our list was the list submitted to INEC before the court injunction-favoured list came and vacating the injunction would not make any meaning anymore and that is why we requested that the court should strike out the injunction for the substantive case. It was actually our prayer. When the ruling on substantive application is taken tomorrow or so, we will surely triumph.”

Vanguard learnt that the Daniel faction was locked up in a meeting at press time to deliberate on the way forward following the developments in Abuja.

Orji scales through

The Federal High Court in Abuja equally vacated the interim order that hitherto restrained the INEC, from recognizing Orji’s candidacy, just as it dismissed the suit challenging his nomination by the National Executive Committee, NEC, of the PDP.

The judgment was immediately celebrated by Governor Orji who welcomed it as a tonic he needed to enter into the campaign. The Minister of Labour and Productivity, Nwadiala Emeka Wogu, who described it as a vindication of the Governor’s well deserved mandate.

Justice Gabriel Kolawole in a 46-page judgment he delivered on the suit filed before him by a factional candidate of the PDP in Abia state, Chief Ikechi Emenike, held that the onus was on the NEC of the party, in-line with the provisions of 31 of the Electoral Act 2010, to forward names of its recognized flag bearers to the electoral body, stressing that the plaintiff failed to convince the court that his nomination was duly acknowledged by the party.

PDP through it National Legal Adviser, Chief Olusola Oke, had earlier told the court that it does not recognize Chief Emenike since he emerged from a primary poll that he said was conducted by the dissolved state organ of the party in Abia State.

Chief Oke stated that the PDP NEC dissolved the Abia State executive committee of the party under the chairmanship of Ndidi Okereke, on August 2, 2010.

The judge thus noted that an appeal lodged by members of the dissolved committee before Justice Ibrahim Auta of the Abuja division of the Federal High Court was still pending, stressing that the body lacked the requisite locus standi to conduct a parallel election in the state considering the subsisting court order against it.

Before dismissing the suit, Justice Kolawole had enjoined Gov. Orji to facilitate an immediate reconciliation of the warring PDP factions in Abia State.

Meantime, the plaintiff, Emenike, has expressed his displeasure over the court judgment, insisting that the trial Judge failed to look at the substantive issues he raised against the candidacy of Gov Orji.

Emenike who spoke through his team of lawyers, led Chief Emeka Ngige, SAN, and Mr C.O.C Emeka-Izima, maintained that the incumbent governor was not qualified to fly the flag of the PDP in the state having just defected into the party from the Progressive Peoples Alliance, PPA just as he vowed to appeal the judgment.

Governor Orji welcoming the court decision said he was grateful to the Nigerian Judiciary for its courage, wisdom and careful consideration of all facts adduced by parties as displayed by the Judge in determining the truth of who was validly nominated by the PDP as its candidate.

In a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Kingsley Emereuwa, the Governor equally admonished aggrieved politicians within the party to sheath their swords and work for the victory of PDP to show their love and commitment to the ideals of the party.

Nwadiala Wogu, the Minister of Labour and Productivity who is from Abia State and was with the Governor at the court premises was equally ecstatic saying: He said: “I welcome this judgment and see it as an affirmation of the wisdom and integrity of the Nigerian judiciary. The Judge having examined all the issues wisely came to the conclusion that the mandate we gave our Governor and leader was validly mobilized, conveyed and delivered.”

Respite for Gov Akala

Respite also came the way of Governor Alao_Akala as the Court of Appeal in Ibadan struck out a motion for stay of execution of the vacation order which the Federal High Court in Oyo State had given in a suit filed by Elder Wole Oyelese, the former Minister of Power, Hazeem Gbolarunmi, former Deputy Governor and 35 others against the INEC and PDP from recognising Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala as the governorship candidate of the party.

The striking out of the motion followed the request of Mr. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, counsel to the appellants who said the action was to hasten the quick dispensation of justice on the substantive matter and that events had overtaken the motion.

Imoke scales through

Though the commission did not display names of candidates standing for the election, it was learnt that those of Senators Imoke and Yakubu Lado were included following the court order.

Senator Lado last week won a court case against the former Speaker of the House of Representatives,  Hon. Aminu Bello Masari following the substitution of the former after he had won the primaries conducted by the party in Katsina State.

The refusal by the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Cross Rivers State, Mike Igini to accept the candidacy of Senator Liyel Imoke as he was said to have emerged from a primaries that was not in tandem with laid down procedures had pitched him against the PDP controlled House of Assembly in the state which passed a vote of no confidence on him and also called for his removal from the state.

The INEC’s Director of Public Affairs, Mr. Emmanuel Umenger in an interview defended the initial position of the commission and Igini saying “it would be a bad development for our democracy if the State did not conduct local government congresses that should produce delegates for the primary and went ahead to conduct the primary. By that arrangement they have even run foul of their own party guidelines”.