A federal high court in Abuja on Tuesday restrained Sani Inuwa Nguru from parading himself as the chairman of the Yobe state executive committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.
With the PDP holding its national convention on Saturday, the court ordered the national headquarters to recognise only the state executive led by Gana Lawan.
Ruling on an ex-parte motion filed by Lawan and 26 other members of the party against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the PDP and seven others, Binta Murtala Nyako granted the seven prayers sought by the plaintiffs.
The judge restrained the INEC, PDP, and Ahmed Makarfi, its interim national chairman, from “recognisng any other person or group of persons as the authentic leadership or Executive Committee of the PDP in Yobe state except the party leadership structure duly elected and headed by the plaintiffs as the authentic officers of the Yobe state executive committee of the PDP pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice”.
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Nyako also restrained the PDP and its national caretaker committee from taking any steps to dissolve or otherwise replace the Lawan faction as the authentic officers of the Yobe state executive committee of the PDP except by elections due to be conducted in May 2020 pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.
The judge directed that the PDP is restrained from conducting any primary election in Yobe state except through the instrumentality of the plaintiffs in the organisation and conduct of the electoral college for the election of party candidates for general and other elections to public offices pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.
The INEC is restrained from recognising and accepting the results of and processing any list of candidates based on any primary election of the PDP in Yobe state conducted by the national executive committee, national caretaker committee or other national leadership of the PDP “howsoever styled”.
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The plaintiffs were also granted leave to serve the originating summons as well as all other accompanying processes in the suit on Nguru and INEC and outside the jurisdiction of the court and that they have the leave of the court to dispense with personal service and employ substituted means.
Nyako adjourned the case till December 15, 2017.
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