Why the Supreme Court should rescue the PDP again

Sometime in 2017 or so when the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was embroiled in leadership tussle between Alhaji Alli Modu Sherrif and Alhaji Makarfi over the issue of who’s the authentic National Chairman of the party, it was the Supreme Court of Nigeria that settled the issue once and for all. Relative peace returned to the Party ahead of the 2019 general election. The intervention of the apex court enabled the PDP to field candidates for the 2019 general election for all elective positions.

The leadership tussle in the party has surfaced again– this time on the issue of the National Secretary of the party. Two people are lying claims for the position. The incumbent-Senator Samuel Anyanwu and Sunday Ude Okoye- who is a former National Youths Leader of the party.

Comrade Ude Okoye seems to have some advantages right now because both the High Court and the Court of Appeal in Enugu had given judgments in his favour. Senator Anyanwu was the appellant in the court of appeal matter yet he lost.

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Senator Anyanwu had reportedly obtained a Stay of Execution from the court of appeal, Abuja division over the judgment of the court of appeal in Enugu division whereas both divisions have concurrent or coordinate jurisdiction. As a novice in Law, before now, I never knew that a court could stay the judgment of another court of equal jurisdiction. I had thought that it’s only the court that gives judgment has the statutory or constitutional power to stay its own judgement under certain circumstances. I never knew that one can run to any division, and obtained a Stay of Execution for a judgement given by another court.

However, since Senator Anyanwu has supposedly filed an appeal before the final court in the land, let all parties cease fire , and wait for the final determination of the matter. The onus now lies before the Honourable Justices of the apex court to give the matter expedited and accelerated hearing if it’s truly established that the matter has been listed in the Supreme Court.

Nominations for candidates for the 2027 general election are less than two years from now. The apex court should help Nigerian democracy by treating this issue with utmost dispatch. The same frenetic speed the Supreme Court gave the matter of the local government financial autonomy should apply in this extant case of the National Secretary of the PDP, albeit the local council autonomy matter had an Originating Summons nature unlike this one which has a Writ of Summons nature.

Should the apex court decide to resolve this matter, and save democracy, this matter can be determined before the end of March or April.

Maduako, writes from Owerri via [email protected]