Primary election: Senator Kashamu’s group wins PDP in court

A Federal High Court sitting in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and the National leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to accept and process the list of candidates and delegates submitted to them by the Adebayo Dayo-led Ogun State Executive Committee of the party for the purpose of the 2019 general election.

The court order followed the parallel governorship primaries held on Sunday by the Dayo-led faction and that of Sikirullahi Ogundele-faction backed by the national leadership of the party.

The two factions of the PDP produced Shittu Adeleke and Ladi Adebutu as governorship candidates, respectively.

However, the Dayo-led group, backed by the Senator representing Ogun East, Buruji Kashamu, in a suit filed before the court, sought an interlocutory order directing the INEC to accept or process delegates and candidates produced by the group as the authentic for the next general elections.

The suit marked FHC/AB/CS/114/2018 between Dayo-led executive and INEC, equally joined the PDP, its National Chairman, Uche Secondus, and the National Secretary, Ibrahim Tsauri.

Delivering his ruling on Tuesday, after an argument canvassed by Rickey Tarfa SAN on behalf of the plaintiffs, Justice Abubakar Shittu granted an order restraining INEC from accepting or processing nominees except done in compliance with the court order.

Shittu granted four of six prayers of the plaintiffs.

The reliefs granted by the court are: “An interlocutory order is given directing the 1st Defendant (INEC) to accept or process only the list of candidates of the PDP for the 2019 general election in Ogun State authenticated by the plaintiffs as having emerged from primaries conducted by them for the House of Assembly, House of Representatives, senatorial and governorship elections and submitted by the Plaintiffs or their authorised nominees pending the hearing and determination of the originating summons.”