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Ogun State PDP Congress Followed Due Process – Kashamu
The Ogun State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial candidate in the 2019 elections, Senator Buruji Kashamu, has said that the recently held congresses of the party, which produced a new set of party executives in the state, followed due process.
Kashamu stated this in a statement entitled “Setting the records straight on Ogun State PDP executive committee” released in Lagos at the weekend.
According to the former lawmaker, the statement became imperative in light of falsehood and misinformation being peddled by some people.
Kashamu said contrary to the lie being bandied in some quarters, that an order was made by Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court stopping the conduct of PDP congresses in Ogun State, there was nothing of such.
He explained that a suit was filed by some people in the name of the PDP against the authentic Ogun State PDP Executive Committee seeking a review of the judgment which had ordered that only the said authentic Ogun State PDP Executive Committee could conduct congresses or primaries of the PDP in Ogun State.
According to him, “The reliefs sought were to the effect that the court should decide that because of some Supreme Court Judgments (that allegedly suggest that only the NEC of a political party may conduct congresses and primaries), the judgment in Suit No. FHC/L/CS/636/2016 was not valid in empowering the Ogun State PDP Executive Committee to conduct congresses for its successors in 2020.
“In that action, they had applied for an order of the court to stop the Ogun State PDP Executive Committee from conducting congresses and the court had refused the application and directed that the Defendants be put on Notice.”
Kashamu said the action was illegal because “It is an invitation to the Federal High Court to sit on appeal over its own judgment delivered in Suit No. FHC/LCS/636/2016 after the appeal against that judgment had been rejected and dismissed at the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court in 2019.”
He added, “By March 3, 2020, when this fatally flawed matter came up, a preliminary objection had been filed on behalf of the then Adebayo Dayo-led Ogun State PDP Executive Committee, challenging the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the action because the questions raised in the action had already been decided by the same Federal High Court in favour of the Ogun State PDP Executive Committee in 2019 (in Suit No. FHC/AB/CS/1323/2019.”
The former lawmaker explained further that in the face of the preliminary objection, the court could not and did not entertain any application to stop the conduct of PDP congresses in Ogun State.
“This is because the Supreme Court has directed that in such circumstances, the court whose jurisdiction is being challenged cannot make any order against the interest of the party challenging its jurisdiction,” he said.
Kashamu noted that it was whilst adjourning the case for hearing of the preliminary objection and other applications that the judge on his own volition made the remark that “parties should refrain from doing anything that will tamper with the res of the action”.
He pointed out that it was not an order restraining conduct of congresses or for maintenance of status quo “but some people mischievously misinterpreted it and claimed that the court had made an order restraining the conduct of PDP Congresses in Ogun State or for maintenance of status quo.”
Kashamu added, “We clearly perceived the mischief inherent in this misinterpretation of the court’s remarks and therefore decided to take ourselves outside possible allegations of breach of the “order” or of contempt of court by appealing against the “order” and filing an application for its stay.
“Every lawyer knows this as the exception to the rule in Hadkinson V Hadkinson. This rule admits of an exception to the perception that a party is in contempt of court when he disobeys an order he has appealed against and filed an application to stay.
“The appeal and the motion for stay essentially neutralize the application of the order appealed against to the appellant. Therefore, the idea being bandied around that the congresses were conducted in defiance of a restraining order or an order for maintenance of status quo is clearly unfounded and completely false.”
Kashamu also stated that the claim in some quarters that INEC nullified the PDP congresses conducted on the 7th, 21st March and 3rd April 2020 was false.
He said, “Already, INEC has received the reports of the congresses and is aware of the new officers that will now take over from the Ogun State Executive Committee of the PDP backed by FHC/L/CS/636/2016.
“Hon. Samson Kayode Bamgbose now leads the new Ogun State Executive Committee of the PDP.
“He and his colleagues have already approached the Federal High Court for protection from the anticipated antics of the desperate elements and their new allies in Ogun State.
“On the 9th of May 2020, they will effectively be in charge of the running of the party as specified by the judgment of the Federal High Court in Suit No. FHC/L/CS/636/2016.
“If INEC has any complaints against the congresses the new case (Suit No. FHC/AB/CS/44/2020) will give INEC the opportunity to make that complaint.”
While emphasizing his desire to work with others to change the fortune of the PDP in Ogun State, Kashamu said this had to be done through the newly-constituted state executive committee. “I wish to reiterate again that we are ready for genuine reconciliation through the Samson Bamgbose-led State Executive Committee.”
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has criticised the continued detention of the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, describing it as “an open sore on our nation’s conscience.”
Atiku called for Kanu’s immediate release, insisting that his prolonged detention represents a grave violation of the rule of law.
Kanu has remained in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) since his re-arrest in Kenya and subsequent extradition to Nigeria in June 2021.
His detention has been marred by legal controversies, including multiple court orders granting him bail orders that have not been complied with by the prosecuting authorities.
The IPOB leader is currently facing a seven-count charge related to alleged terrorism activities.
Aatiku, in a statement issued on Thursday, condemned the government’s continued defiance of court rulings, calling it “an assault on justice.”
He also expressed full support for the ongoing campaign led by activist and Sahara Reporters publisher, Omoyele Sowore, which is calling for Kanu’s immediate release or prosecution in line with due process.
“The continued detention of Nnamdi Kanu remains an open sore on our nation’s conscience and a stain on our belief in the rule of law,” Atiku said.
“Defying court orders that granted him bail is an abuse of power and an assault on justice.
“I, therefore, lend my voice in full support of the campaign led by @YeleSowore for his immediate release or due prosecution.
“We fail as patriots if we allow Kanu’s case to fester as yet another wound this nation refuses to heal.”
On Wednesday, Justice James Omotosho of the federal high court Abuja adjourned Kanu’s trial on alleged terrorism, to October 16th.
The trial was adjourned following the inability of the Nigerian Medical Association to present its report on the health status of Kanu to the court.
Oba Oladipo Olaitan, a leader of Yoruba Socio-Cultural Organization, Afenifere, has blasted the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Speaking during an interview on ‘Sunrise Daily’, a programme on Channels Television, Olaitan said APC is good at deceiving people and manipulating figures.
“APC is good at what they know how to do – deceive people, manipulate figures, conceal issues, that’s their job and they know how to do it.
“The question I have is, do you feel safe where you are now?
“The last administration before the current one, the story is out there that just because they want to rule this nation by hook or crook, they go to the extent of imposing foreign nationals – Fulanis to be precise, coming into this country to destroy the nation if they could not get power.
“If anybody has that type of mind, nothing good can come out of him. And the current President, when he was campaigning, he told Nigerians that it was his turn. What that means is it’s either me or nobody else,” Olaitan said.
The embattled Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Geoffrey Uche Nnaji, has accused Enugu State governor, Peter Mbah, of masterminding allegations of certificate forgery leveled against him.
Speaking through his spokesperson Dr. Robert Ngwu, the minister described the allegation as a politically motivated witch-hunt aimed at discrediting him ahead of the governor’s alleged plan to join the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
“Mbah wants Nnaji out of his way. He has given a new name to all his problems. He is seeking a second term in office, and the only way to achieve this is to get Nnaji out of the way. He wants to join APC, but knowing that Nnaji is there, he is not comfortable,” Ngwu alleged.
An online news medium had earlier reported that Nnaji forged the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) certificate he submitted to President Bola Tinubu and the National Assembly during his ministerial screening.
Reacting, the minister urged the UNN authorities to uphold their integrity and resist political manipulation by reaffirming the authenticity of their official records.
“This is not just about one man’s academic record; it is about protecting truth, preserving institutional honour, and ensuring that no university in Nigeria becomes a pawn in partisan politics,” he stated.
Ngwu maintained that Nnaji graduated from UNN in July 1985 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology/Biochemistry, a fact reflected in the university’s official records and its 1985 convocation brochure.
He cited a letter issued by the university on December 21, 2023, during Nnaji’s ministerial screening, confirming that “Mr. Geoffrey Uchechukwu Nnaji, with registration number 1981/30725, was admitted in 1981 to study Microbiology/Biochemistry and graduated in July, 1985, with a Bachelor of Science, Second Class (Honours) Lower Division.”
According to Ngwu, the letter remains the only authentic communication from UNN on the matter.
He, however, alleged that another letter surfaced in May 2025, purportedly from the university, claiming that there were no records of Nnaji’s graduation — a development he attributed to political interference.
He further accused the Vice Chancellor of UNN of being a card-carrying member of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) allegedly acting on the governor’s instruction to tarnish the minister’s image.
Ngwu also disclosed that the Minister had approached the court when he got wind of attempts to tamper with his academic file.
He said that on September 22, the court granted an injunction restraining the university’s management from altering his records and issued an order of mandamus compelling the release of his academic transcript — which, according to him, the school has refused to obey.
“Rather than adhering to the valid court order, the Vice Chancellor, a lawyer by profession, resorted to cyberbullying and politically motivated media trial against the Minister,” Ngwu said.
He added that the entire episode was politically driven: “It is increasingly clear that this entire issue is not about education or integrity but about political desperation disguised as academic inquiry.
“The timing, the sources, the false documents, and the paid narratives all point to a coordinated campaign to drag a reputable public servant into the mud of partisan politics.”
