PDP WRITES INEC, DISASSOCIATES SELF FROM ILLEGAL PRIMARIES IN OGUN

The National Executive Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has written to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) stating emphatically that it disassociates itself from the illegal primary elections conducted by some individuals in Ogun State which they claimed to be premised on the Court order of 27th September, 2022.

The NEC described the purported election as gross violation of Section 50 of the PDP’s constitution which empowers the National Working Committee on behalf of the National Executive Committee to formulate guidelines and regulation for the nomination of candidates into all elective offices at all levels, this section enjoys plethora of judgements among which are Emenike vs PDP (2012) 12NWLR pt. 1315, at page 556, the Supreme Court per Rhodes-vivour, JSC held in part; “it must be elementary now, that the only valid primary is the one conducted by the National Working Committee of the PDP”, and Ugochukwu Uba vs Valentine Ozigbo (2022) 10 NWLR part 1839 at pg. 431, per Okoro held that; “A State executive of a political party has no vires to conduct part primaries. It is only the National Executive Committee of the Party that is recognized as the proper organ of the party saddled with the responsibility of conducting party primaries”.

The letter which was jointly signed by the National Chairman, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu and the National Secretary, Sen. Samuel Anyanwu, also noted that the time frame given by the Abeokuta Federal High Court for a fresh primary has elapsed on Tuesday, 10th October, 2022 and the judgement which the NEC found dissatisfying has been appealed in case file CA/IB/409/2022-PEOPLES DEMOCRATIC PARTY VS PRINCE ADESEGUN SERIKI & 10 ORS AND CA/IB/410/2022- PEOPLES DEMOCRATIC PARTY VS TAIWO OLABODE IDRIS AND 6 ORS.

Ayu and Anyanwu on behalf of the NEC asked INEC to disregard any letter or correspondence written by any member of the State Executive of the Ogun State Chapter of the Party and the Commission should be circumspect in its dealings with these persons in future. 

The NEC also urged INEC to respect the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 which provides that all correspondence between the Commission and political parties must be signed by the National Chairman and National Secretary of the Party and not State executive.