An Abuja High Court in Apo has vacated its earlier order stopping the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) from proceeding with its planned mini national convention to elect fresh hands into its National Working Committee (NWC).
With the order by Justice Suleiman Belgore, the path is now clear for the party to proceed with arrangements for the convention. Justice Belgore elected to vacate the order after three aggrieved PDP members – Abba Yale,Alh. Yahaya Sule and Bashir Maigudu – applied to withdraw the suit they filed, challenging the composition of the party’s NWC.
The court had on the 25th of July, this year restrained the PDP from conducting any form of convention “whether special or ordinary,” for the purpose of electing any officer into the office of the PDP pending the determination of the suit by the aggrieved members of the party.
While moving the application for withdrawal, plaintiffs’ lawyer, Friday Nwosu told the court that his client have elected to explore the party’s internal mechanism in addressing their grievances. He said the plaintiffs, being loyal party men, who wish to remain in the party, have resolved to withdraw their case and table their grievances before the party’s National Reconciliation Committee headed by Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson.
Nwosu accordingly prayed the court to strike out the plaintiffs’ case. Lawyers to the defendants (PDP and its National Chairman, Bamanga Tukur), Tobechukwu Nweke and Raphael Oluyede did not object to the plaintiffs’ decision to withdraw their case.
They however urged the court to dismiss the case rather than strike it out. Ruling, Justice Belgore said he was satisfied with the application for withdrawal and all the necessary accompanying documents filed by the plaintiffs.
He held that the application, having been brought under Order 27, Rule 3 of the court’s Civil Procedure Rules 2004 the court was left with no option than to allow the withdrawal.
Justice Belgore elected to strike out the case as against dismissal, on the ground that no major steps have been taken in respect of the substantive suit.
“The suit is struck out. The earlier order restraining the defendants from holding any convention is vacated. That order is now discharged, as it crumbles with the striking out of the suit,” the judge held.
He however frowned at the decision by Nwosu to petition the court’s Chief Judge, complaining of experiencing difficulty in withdrawing the case. The judge said it was wrong for Nwosu to have written such petition even before his withdrawal application was brought before the court.
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