There is a fresh crisis in the Lagos State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) following the court judgement that sacked the state chairman, Deji Doherty.
The Lagos State High Court also reinstated former caretaker chairman of the part in the state, Adegbola Dominic, as the legitimate chairman.
Delivering judgement in the suit, No: LD/3600/GCM/2019, filed by Dominic, the court agreed with the argument of the claimants that there was no vacancy in the party.
Recall that Dominic had challenged the special congress of the party that was held in November 2019, saying he remained the substantive chairman having succeeded the former chairman who resigned from the party.
But in the judgement, presided over by Justice Oyekan Abdullahi said it considered the preliminary objection filed by the 1st-6th defendants and dismissed them for lack of merit.
The court held that the 1st claimant was duly appointed to serve out the term of his predecessor who resigned.
The latest development is coming weeks after the party stakeholders were reconciled by the National Reconciliation Committee chaired by former Senate president Bukola Saraki.
Speaking of with journalists on the Court judgement, Dominic said he was ready to take over the affairs of the party with immediate effect, adding that the verdict had clearly stated that there was no vacancy in the party in the first place.
He said he was in talks with security agencies with a view to fast-track his resumption as the state chairman.
“By Friday, we should be fully back in the office. It is the party we took to court, not Doherty and I don’t see the party appealing this because it is a bad case for them. The judge also warned that there should be no obstacle in the implementation of the judgement,” he said.
But Doherty in interview said that the verdict did not have any merit and so it could not hold.
He stated that the party has a 14-day window to appeal the judgement, saying he remained the chairman and that he just finished the state working committee meeting.
He said the argument that INEC was not involved in the congress was totally false.
“Chairman of the Elders’ Council has spoken and the national secretariat is going to study the judgement because the judgement has not even been served. We are going to study it and act appropriately. My tenure ends in September or November, therefore, I don’t think what they are doing can hold,” he said.
Speaking in an interview with BusinessDay, Thursday, deputy spokesman of the PDP in state, Lynda Ambode said Doherty was the lawful chairman of the party who was elected after a congress authorized by the national leadership.
Ambode said Doherty was elected after Dominic tenure as head of caretaker Committee in the state had expired.
According to her, “Doherty was elected after the national leadership of the party called for a congress when his tenure as caretaker chairman expired. He did not do anything while in office, we have 14 days to appeal ruling and we are just doing that now”.
