A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Umar Sani, has clarified the recent judgment delivered by the Court of Appeal concerning the party’s national convention.
Speaking during an interview on Trust TV, Sani stated that the appellate court did not nullify the PDP convention as widely reported in some quarters. According to him, the court merely upheld an earlier decision delivered by a lower court before the convention took place.
“The Court of Appeal did not nullify the convention. What the court did was to uphold the judgment of the lower court, and that judgment was issued before the convention,” Sani said.
He explained that the lower court’s ruling only outlined certain conditions the party was expected to meet ahead of the convention but did not prohibit the PDP from conducting it.
“The lower court only gave conditions that we should do certain things before holding the convention. Nowhere in that judgment did it say we should not hold it,” he added.
Sani further noted that there was no specific directive compelling the party to conduct congresses in 14 states, reorganise its internal structure, or send formal notice to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) before holding the convention.
On the party’s next legal move, the PDP chieftain revealed that the matter would be taken to the Supreme Court of Nigeria for further clarification.
“If the court claims that we didn’t hold a convention, we are challenging that in the Supreme Court because we believe it is not the business of the court to intervene in an internal leadership tussle within the political party,” Sani stated.
