A federal high court has fixed April 20 for judgment in a suit filed by Siminlalayi Fubara, Rivers state governor-elect, and his deputy, Ngozi Odu, seeking to stop a purported suspension plot by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Inyang Ekwo, the presiding judge, adjourned for judgement after Joshua Musa, Fubara’s counsel, and Johnson Usman, who represented the PDP and its executives, adopted their processes and presented their arguments for and against the suit.
In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/123/2023, Fubara, Odu and 48 members of the PDP asked the court to stop the party and its executives from suspending or expelling them.
They prayed the court to declare that the threat to suspend or expel them on account of the disagreement between the party’s national executives and Nyesom Wike, Rivers governor, amounts to a denial of their rights.
At the court session on Friday, Usman said the PDP wrote a letter to John Tsoho, chief judge of the court, asking that the case be reassigned to another judge.
Usman added that Ekwo was also copied in the letter dated March 14.
The party cited loss of confidence and bias as grounds for the application.
Responding, Fubara’s lawyer said he was unaware of the letter.
Musa submitted that the said administrative letter cannot serve as a stay of proceeding since no response had been received from the CJ.
The presiding judge, in his remark, said he has not received a formal notice about the letter, adding that he only found out about it via social media.
The PDP, its national working committee (NWC) and the national executive committee (NEC) are cited in the suit as 1st to 3rd respondents respectively.
Others are Iyorchia Ayu, PDP national chairman; Samuel Anyanwu, national secretary, and the INEC as 4th to 6th respondents respectively. (The Cable)
