From Muawuya Bala Idris, Katsina
A Katsina State High Court has adjourned to November 29th for ruling on a suit filed by an aggrieved faction of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Katsina State, challenging the conduct of the party congresses.
It would be recalled that a faction of the party led by Senator Yakubu Lado conducted party congresses which led to the emergence of the new officials of the party from ward to state level.
However, another faction led by former Secretary to the Katsina State Government, Alhaji Mustafa Inuwa, and other party chieftains filed a suit before the State High Court challenging the conduct of the congresses.
The defendants, through their counsel, filed a counter-application challenging the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the suit, which it said was an internal party affair.
The presiding judge, Justice Abbas Bawale, after listening to submissions by the counsels of both the plaintiff and the defendant, adjourned the case to November 29th for ruling on the matter.
Meanwhile, the judge also gave the counsels an earlier date to determine the preliminary objection and the substantive suit in the case, before the adjourned date for the ruling.
In an interview with newsmen shortly after the court sitting, counsel to the PDP which is the defendant in the suit, Barr Isaac Nwachukwu, said he presented an argument that party congress is an internal affair.
“We argue that party congress is an internal affair of the party, it has been ruled in many decided authorities that courts do not have jurisdiction to entertain this kind of case.
“It is an internal affair of the party and should be resolved by the party.
“But since the plaintiffs do not agree with that, they have come to challenge it, and we are asking the court to decline jurisdiction and refer them back to the party.
“It is not something the court should dabble into; even in a recently decided case, the court also held that it lacked jurisdiction to entertain these kinds of applications.
“Meanwhile, the court gave us a date to determine the preliminary objection and the substantive suit; in the legal process, if the preliminary objection is decided in our favour, then there is no need to go into the substantive suit.
“It is only when it fails that the judge can go into the substantive suit,” Nwachukwu said.
Also speaking to newsmen, counsel to the plaintiffs, Barr. Mustafa Shitu Mahuta said he was at the court to challenge the conduct of the PDP congresses from ward to local government and state levels, which he said was done illegally.
“We came before this court challenging the conduct of congresses of the PDP from state down to local government and ward levels, which was done against democratic tenets and principles and against the PDP constitution itself.
“One faction of the party led by one individual hijacked the forms and excluded other members of the party in the state from the right to participate in the process. Therefore, the election was very irregular.
“Our prayers are for the court to annul this sham of an election and order for fresh congresses to be conducted from ward to local government and state level whereby all members of the party will be given a level playing field to participate,” Mahuta noted.
