The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has filed a petition against Justice Emmanuel Obile of the Port Harcourt Division of the Federal High Court. The petition, which was dated June 23, was addressed to the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Tanko Muhammad and signed by Dakzel Longii Shamnas. The petition was a fallout of an alleged order given by Justice Obile on Monday barring Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki from participating in the PDP’s governorship election primary slated for June 25.
The suit was filed against Obaseki by Mr Omoregie Ogbeide-Ihama, one of the PDP aspirants jostling for the party’s ticket. The leadership of the PDP and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were also joined as co-defendants. The petitioner stated that Justice Obile did not approach the matter with circumspection, stressing that he ought not to have entertained the matter in the first place. “In respect of the said suit, we note that Hon. Justice E. A. Obile did not approach the matter with circumspection. His Lordship thereby played into the hands of unscrupulous politicians.
“Your Lordship may wish to take judicial notice of the fact following apparently intractable intra-party squabble in the All Progressives Congress (APC), Governor Godwin Obaseki recently defected to the PDP to pursue his political ambition of re-election as the governor of Edo State for a second term of office. “The primary election of the PDP for the forthcoming governorship election has been scheduled to hold on the 25th day of June 2020 in Benin City, the capital of Edo State.
“The subject matter of the suit is the governorship primary election of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), therefore the PDP is the principal defendant as it would be most affected by any order to be made by the court. “The headquarters of the PDP is in Abuja. The screening of candidates for the gubernatorial election which the Plaintiff is complaining of in the suit took place in Abuja.
