Court suspends PDP convention

The federal high court in Abuja has suspended the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) convention planned by the Ahmed Makarfi faction of the party.

The convention is scheduled for Wednesday.

Okon Abang, the judge, disagreed with Ben Obi, a a former senator who filed an application to be joined in the case as a respondent.

Obi had got an order of the Port Harcourt division of the court for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agents to be present at the convention.

He, alongside Makarfi and some PDP members, had sought to join in the suit to stop the convention by the Ali Modu Sheriff faction.

“Obi cannot undermine the authority of this court. Senator Ben Obi cannot treat the court with disdain and levity,” Abang said.

He said the court would have adjourned the matter to the next day to give Obi’s counsel time to prepare for an intending application from Sheriff’s group. But he added that going by Obi’s actions, which he described as a “slap on the court”, he said he had no choice but to adjourn the matter to August 16 at 12pm.

Putting an end to the convention, Abang said: “‎Where a party has taken law into its hands, and to maintain the dignity and integrity of the court and in the over all interest of justice, taking into consideration the competing claims of the parties, an order is hereby made in the interim suspending the PDP convention slated for August 17, 2016, pending when the plaintiff motion on notice dated July 20 is served and ,” he said.