Ogun PDP crisis: Court verdict in favour of Kashamu

A Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday left the Peoples
Democratic Party disappointed by ruling that the expulsion of Senator
Buruji Kashamu and leaders of his Ogun PDP faction was unlawful.

However, the same court affirmed the party’s power to expel an erring member of the party.

Buruji Kashamu

National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan,
apparently had not read the judgment in the suit marked
FCT/HC/CV/0303/2017 before rushing out a statement to commend the judge
and also interpret it to mean that it validated the nomination of Ladi
Adebutu as the governorship candidate of the party.

Buruji Kashamu claims that he is the legal candidate. On Monday, he,
along with his running mate, Reuben Abati, launched his campaign in
Ijebu-Igbo as the authentic, court-endorsed governorship candidate of
the party.

According to a report posted on Kashamu’s Twitter handle on Thursday,
the court did not grant the PDP all the prayers it wanted. Rather, it
only got affirmation for its right to discipline members. And this came
with a caveat: the sanctioning must follow due process and the rule of
law.

Justice Valentine Ashi, maintained that though the PDP was empowered
by its constitution to discipline, reprimand, bar or expel recalcitrant
members from its fold, it held that due process must be followed in the
exercise of such powers.

Justice Ashi had in a previous ruling on October 10, nullified the
suspension of Kashamu and other members of the party in August on the
premise that the action was carried out without regards to due process
and in total disregard to a pending suit on the matter.

He held that PDP took the action in flagrant disobedience of a
subsisting order the court made on December 7, 2017, which was restated
on January 9, 2018, directing parties not to do anything to jeopardise
the hearing of the pending case brought against Kashamu, Dayo and two
others by the party itself.

The court scolded the party for resorting to self-help by suspending
its affected members, despite the pendency of the legal action they
instituted against it.

The judge trod the same path on Thursday. The judge did not validate the expulsion of Kashamu and the others.

“The decision to suspend the defendants was nullified, because it was
taken during the pendency of the suit, which suspension this court had
reversed in an earlier ruling.

“That the plaintiff’s first and second reliefs succeed is not to say
that the suspension has been reversed.

Parties are to revert to the
status quo before the suspension. The plaintiff is at liberty to
exercise its disciplinary powers, but with due process”.

Justice Ashi declined to pronounce on the plaintiff’s other reliefs
which include prayers for restraining injunctions against Kashamu and
the Adebayo Dayo-led faction to prevent them from taking steps to
disrupt the last non-elective convention that was held by the PDP.

The judge said the reliefs were overtaken by events since the said convention had been held.

The PDP had through a letter dated August 1, announced its expulsion
of Senator Kashamu who is representing Ogun East and the state PDP
Chairman, Engr Adebayo Dayo.

The victims rushed to court for protection.

In an obvious misinterpretation of the judgment, the PDP Publicity
secretary Ologbodiyan urged the Independent National Electoral
Commission, (INEC) to copiously take note of the development and the
conduct of the governorship election in Ogun.

“The PDP invites Nigerians, the people of Ogun and particularly the INEC to take copious note of the judgment of the court.

“The judgement, in suit no: FCT/HC/0303/2017, delivered today, Dec.
13, 2018 affirmed the powers of the PDP, as provided in her
constitution, to discipline and punish any member who contravenes any of
the provisions of its constitution.

“By this judgment, it is clear that Kashamu is not a member of the
PDP, and cannot, under any circumstance whatsoever, claim to be the
governorship candidate of the party in Ogun, moreso, when he never
participated in any of its nomination processes.’’

Ologbondiyan said that going by the expulsion of the senator from the
PDP in August, Buruji lost his membership of PDP and as such, did not
partake in any of the party’s nomination processes.

“He did not purchase the PDP governorship nomination form and did not
participate in any way whatsoever in our Ogun governorship primary.
Yet, he had continued to cause confusion and parade himself as PDP
candidate.

“Finally, the PDP commends the people of Ogun for standing steadfast
with its governorship candidate, Adebutu, who is already coasting to
victory in the 2019 polls,’’ he said