PDP primaries: Court refuses to stop Jonathan, Atiku

THE President got Monday the legal green light to run in the April election.

But the Abuja High Court ruling on a suit seeking to stop President Goodluck Jonathan from Thursday’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential primary has thrown the party into more confusion.

Mr Justice Ishaq Bello dismissed the case for lacking “reasonable cause of action”.

The judge, who delivered three marathon judgments in separate cases bordering on the eligibility of the two top aspirants for the party’s nomination -Jonathan and ex-Vice-President Abubakar Atiku -however, cautioned the party on the need to respect its constitution.

Although he agreed that the way a party conducts its internal affairs is its business, Justice Bello disagreed that Courts could not dabble in it when the occasion arises.

According to him, courts can intervene when a party fails to obey its constitution.

Citing Article 7.2(c) of PDP’s Constitution, Justice Bello said zoning exists in the party, and its implementation is binding on it, adding that any party which refuses to obey its statutory laws is breeding disunity in the nation.

He, however, said the court could not at this time make any pronouncement on the suitability of the President or any candidate to contest in the party’s primary as it was yet to be conducted.

Besides, he said, by virtue of Section 87 of the Electoral Act, only aspirants in the said primary could come back to court to challenge its outcome and not any member of the party.

“There is no allegation of breach and that is understandable since no primary has held. I hereby agree that there is no sufficient cause of action. The Originating Summons is dismissed as prayed,” Justice Bello said.

Ambassador Yahaya Kwande, Hon. Dubem Onyia and Alhaji Lawal Kaita, who are loyalists of ex-Vice President Abubakar Atiku, urged the court to stop Jonathan from contesting in Thursday’s presidential primary of the party.

Atiku is challenging Jonathan for the party’s nomination.

The plaintiffs wanted the Court to restrain PDP from presenting him as its candidate for the April election.

According to them, President Jonathan’s decision to contest will make nonsense of the federal character principle and the party’s zoning arrangement.

Besides, they pleaded with the court to bar the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from accepting Jonathan as the party’s flag-bearer.

The defendants are PDP, Nwodo, Jonathan and INEC, which maintained a neutral stance in the suit.

Justice Bello discountenanced the defendants’ submissions that parties in this case were the same with parties in an earlier suit filed against PDP by another member, Sani Dutsinma who was also touted to be Atiku’s loyalist.

According to him, the plaintiffs in this case are different from the plaintiffs in Dutsinma’s case, which was determined by the FCT Chief Judge, Justice Lawal Gummi.

Delivering Judgment in Dutsinma’s case, Justice Gummi agreed that zoning exists and is binding on the PDP, but held that the issue raised by the plaintiff is an intra-party affair in which the court could not dabble.

According to him, Art 7.2 (c) which recognises zoning “has not stated that any part of the country would hold the position of the president or any other party 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 first 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.

Justice Bello also yesterday dismissed another suit filed against Atiku by two-time gubernatorial aspirants in Adamawa and Taraba states, Mr Bala Takaya and Senator Abdullahi Kirim for being premature.

According to him, the plaintiffs did not explore the internal mechanism of the party to seek redress before rushing to Court.

“The entire suit is premature. No reasonable cause of action has arisen. A suit without cause of action is un-prosecutable. The suit is hereby dismissed as premature and abuse of court process”.

The Judge also dismissed a suit filed against PDP by another aggrieved member, Alh. Sadiq Jada, for granting a waiver to Atiku, to prepare his return to the party after defecting to the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) on which platform he contested the presidential election in 2007.

He said: ‘’I have examined the written submissions of counsel in the matter. The complaint must relate to the plaintiff’s right, otherwise, the plaintiff will be seen as a busybody. The plaintiff must have a special interest that would adversely be affected.

‘’The plaintiff had said that he is a card carrying member of the party. What is his interest that is above that of other members of the party? What injury will he suffer if the defendant runs as candidate?

‘’This suit portrays the applicant as a busybody since his right has not been directly violated. His right and that of his family has not also been infringed upon.

‘’The plaintiff constitutes himself as a litigation nuisance. The objection is upheld as the suit which constitutes abuse of court process is hereby dismissed,’’ the Judge said.