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Our Inauguration Legal, Valid – Ogun PDP Chairman
The new chairman of the Ogun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Honourable Samson Bamgbose, has said the inauguration of the new State Executive Committee last Friday complied with the laws of the land and therefore valid.
Bambgose, who said this on Sunday, was reacting to a statement credited to Prince Uche Secondus and Senator Umaru Tsauri, National Chairman and National Secretary of the PDP respectively, dissociating the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party from the newly inaugurated state executive committee in Ogun State.
But Bamgbose, in a statement, noted that while the position of the NWC was not unexpected, “it is disturbing that our leaders in this great party still do not understand (or just don’t care) that all politics is local and that handing over the structures of the PDP to Ladi Adebutu (whose only desire for seeking such control is to guarantee his ambition of being the candidate of the party for the Ogun State gubernatorial elections in 2023) is a recipe for depletion of the commitment of members to the party in Ogun State and defeat at the polls.”
According to the new chairman, the issue as to which organ of the party is empowered to conduct congresses for the elections of party leaders in Ogun State had been resolved in Suit No. FHC/L/CS/636/2016, which reposed the powers in the party’s state executive committee.
He said, “The courts in Suit No. FHC/L/CS/347/2012 and successive cases (particularly Suit No. FHC/L/CS/636/2016) have sought to create a special case for the conduct of congresses and primaries in the Ogun State Chapter of the PDP.
“Therefore, in its judgment in Suit No. FHC/L/CS/636/2016 of 24th June 2016, the Federal High Court (echoing its earlier judgment in Suit No. FHC/L/CS/347/2012) ordered (inter alia) in favour of the Adebayo Dayo led PDP Ogun State Executive Committee (OGSEC) as follows:
“That an order is granted to the Plaintiff (Adebayo Dayo led PDP OGSEC) restraining the 2nd Defendant (PDP) by itself, its agents, servants, proxies and surrogates from henceforth conducting the affairs of the PDP in Ogun State, including meetings, congresses and/or primaries except through the new officers of the party that have emerged from congresses conducted by the plaintiffs as listed in the exhibits attached to the affidavit in support of this originating summons.
“That an order is granted to the plaintiff directing the 1st defendant (INEC) to deal exclusively with the new Ogun State officers of the PDP that emerged from the congresses conducted by the plaintiffs (as listed in exhibits attached to the affidavit in support of this originating summons) in the conduct of the 2nd defendant’s (PDP’s) programmes in Ogun state including congresses and primaries of the party until the four years tenure to which they have been elected is spent.”
Bamgbose said the validity of the judgment had been challenged at the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court where it was dismissed.
The PDP chairman stressed that the organ empowered to conduct congresses for the PDP in Ogun State is the judicially recognized state executive committee.
He added, “Currently, the unassailable position is that congresses have been validly concluded by the outgone, judicially protected PDP OGSEC and new officers (that emerged in accordance with the terms of the orders in Suit No. FHC/L/CS/636/2016 set out above) have been validly inaugurated on the last day of the judicially recognized and specified tenure of the outgone leadership.
“My colleagues and I (following that inauguration) have now legally and validly taken over the running of the affairs of the Party in Ogun State.”
The PDP state chairman described the claim that the congresses that produced the new state executive and the inauguration contravened the interim injunction order made by Justice Inyang Ekwo, in suit No FCT/AB/CS/208/2020 on March 4, 2020 directing the maintenance of status quo until the hearing of the notice, Bamgbose as untrue because there was no interim injunction against the conduct of congresses in the state.
He explained that Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/208/2020 was instituted by some national officers of the PDP to seek a review of the judgment which had ordered that only the said authentic PDP state executive could conduct congresses or primaries of the PDP in Ogun State.
According to him, the plaintiffs had applied for an order of the court to stop the PDP OGSEC from conducting congresses and the court had refused the application and directed that the defendants be put on notice.
Bamgbose said “By March 3, 2020, when this matter came up, a preliminary objection had been filed on behalf of the Adebayo Dayo led OGSEC, challenging the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the action.
“In the face of this preliminary objection, the court could not and did not entertain any application to stop the conduct of PDP congresses in Ogun State; 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.
“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.
“This was not an order restraining conduct of congresses or for maintenance of status quo as misrepresented in PDP NWC.”
Bamgbose added that to consolidate the position of the executive, “we 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. It is a known dictum in law that a party cannot be in contempt of court when he disobeys an order he has appealed against and filed an application to stay.”
Bamgbose said the state executive was willing to accord the national leadership of the party its deserved respect but the leaders must learn to operate within the ambit of the law.
He added that the state executive was amenable to working with the NWC to bring feuding groups together in the state and position the party to take over the reins of government in 2023.
The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Moshood Jimoh, has explained why security details attached to the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mojisola Meranda, were withdrawn, noting that the aides have since been restored.
The Lagos Police boss, while confirming the withdrawal of four policemen attached to Meranda, blamed the withdrawal on the audit of all policemen attached to VIPs in the state.
He also claimed that it was not Meranda’s security aides who were withdrawn and that those of other VIPs were also withdrawn during the audit.
CP Jimoh also insisted that the audit is not peculiar to the Lagos State Police Command, adding that it also happened in other states of the country.
He said, “Lagos with a population of about 20 million persons have 18,000 police personnel. This is grossly inadequate for a state like Lagos which is centre of excellence.
“The audit will help us to know those on illegal duty, those who are where they are not supposed to be. Once the audit is completed, we start to reassign them to Divisions and Post to help in policing the state effectively.”
Continuing, the CP added that the audit is a statutory laid-down procedure of the police, which is not limited to the state command alone.
“Periodic audit of police personnel attached to eminent personalities and groups is a police statutory laid down procedure which is not limited to Lagos State Police Command alone, this is to ensure that the police personnel are accounted for including their firearms and other police crime fighting equipment in their possession.
“To further ensure that they are on their duty posts and the firearms and equipment under their custody is not misused. As we speak, other police state commands in the Country are carrying out similar audits of Police personnel hitch-free and without any problem.
“The exercise will equally avail the Command the opportunity to discover where police personnel are posted without approval and or those that are on illegal duties and unapproved duty posts, so that we can withdraw those on unapproved duty posts, those with invalid approval and those on illegal duty and redeploy them to Police Posts, Stations, Divisions and Area Commands to provide security and safety for all Lagosians.
“It is important to underscore the facts that Lagos State, the Centre of Excellence with more than Twenty million population but with a strength of police personnel of less than 18,000 in total need more personnel to be at the police posts, police stations, divisions for the safety and adequate protection of lives and property of everyone in Lagos State.
“The ongoing police personnel audit in the Lagos State Command is done in absolutely public interest and not with any other considerations, except for the safety of all in the State. As I speak with you, the audit of the police personnel attached to Hon. Mojisola Meranda has been completed and the four armed personnel attached to her from the Lagos State Police Command have been returned back to her for her protection.
“It is pertinent to also state that the ongoing police personnel audit has been on for several days now and prominent personalities and individuals have been complying with the process. The exercise once again is not aimed or targeted at any individual,” the CP added.
“However, for those whose police personnel are still undergoing the audit process with the Command, the outcome of the audit will enable the next line of action to be taken. Let me sound a note of warning that prominent persons/individuals without valid approval, Police deployment to them will be withdrawn throughout the State.
“The Special Protection Units Department at the Force Headquarters have been mandated to provide security coverage for every Nigerian needing police protection in the country, and will henceforth provide deployment of police personnel for guard duties and personnel protection, will be centrally done throughout the country at the Force Headquarters,” the Lagos CP added.
Security aides attached to the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon Mojisola Meranda, has allegedly been withdrawn while it was also alleged that the security aides of the embattled and impeached Speaker, Hon Mudashiru Obasa, has been restored.
The move, according to source, is part of the pressure being mounted on Meranda to resign her speakership position.
A reports by The Punch onThursday said security details attached to the speaker including police officers have been withdrawn.
On online platform, The Whistler, reported seeing videos of Meranda going into the assembly for official assignment without any of her security aides, except civilian aides.
The paper added that the identity of whoever authorised the withdrawn is still unknown just as a source close to the Speaker confirmed the development.
“The source told the paper, ‘All the Speaker’s security aides have been withdrawn. All the security aides attached to the House of Assembly have also been withdrawn.’
The paper further noted as follows:
The source further lamented that, “the speaker is now vulnerable.”
The removal of Meranda may not be unconnected to the move by a mediating team including Chief Bisi Akande and Aremo Olusegun Osoba, former governors of Osun and Ogun states respectively to ease the embattled speaker out of office and restore normalcy in the assembly which is sharply divided over the influence of the state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu and President Bola Tinubu.
The meditating panel reportedly met last Sunday with key stakeholders at the House including members of the Governance Advisory Council at the Governor’s Lodge in Marina in their bid to resolve the political impasse.
Various reports from the meeting said the panel recommended the resignation of Mudashiru Obasa and that Meranda should also step down for a new lawmaker from Lagos West to take the mantle of the House leadership.
Meanwhile, the Obasa camp confirmed that all his aides have now been restored.
“They have restored all Obasa’s security aides as of this morning,” the source said.
Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has said he believes the former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, is hurt because he was blocked from being a minister in Tinubu’s cabinet.
El-Rufai, who has been critical of Tinubu’s government in recent times, claimed on Monday night during an interview on Arise TV that Tinubu, not the National Assembly, blocked his nomination as a minister after initially asking him to be part of the government.
“The National Assembly had nothing to do with it, the president didn’t want me in his cabinet,” El-Rufai had said.
Reacting to his statement on Tuesday during an interview on Channels TV’s Sunrise Daily, Onanuga said:
“As a person, I think I will pity former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai. He feels hurt that he was not made a minister…I think it is time for him to move on.
“You cannot continue to behave like a child as if somebody stole your bread and things like that and then you’re crying over spilt milk?
“It’s natural for him to feel hurt, excluded and I think that as the president acknowledged in a recent birthday tribute to him, Nasir actually helped a lot in installing President Tinubu, and if he’s not there it doesn’t mean that he must bring down the roof.”
Onanuga stressed that the president has nothing against El-Rufai, reiterating that the ex-governor was only frustrated for not being part of the Federal government.
He said El-Rufai’s criticism of the Tinubu administration does not “reflect reality,” adding that the government inherited numerous problems but “things are getting better”.
