Ondo Guber Race 2016: Jegede’s lawyers misled Judges, says PDP Zonal Chair

The Southwest Zonal Chairman/National Vice Chairman of the People Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Makanjuola Ogundipe, has accused lawyers of contributing to the crisis ricking the party.

He said the PDP is being torn apart by rebellious elements.

Ogundipe said the judgment of the Court of Appeal which restored Mr. Eyitayo Jegede as the party’s candidate in the Ondo State governorship race, was a result of a misrepresentation of facts.

The PDP chief, in a statement yesterday, said: “These lawyers intentionally did not present all the facts of the case that was tried at the Federal High Court to the Hon. Justice Ibrahim Saulawa-led panel of the Court of Appeal. They hijacked and rushed proceedings at hearing, making it impossible for Prince Biyi Poroye’s lawyers to present their arguments. The judges who obviously worked with the arguments that were presented before them were so deftly manipulated that they did not have the opportunity to enter into the details of the matter before them as well as details of the case that was tried at the lower court.

“Thus to get redress, Prince Poroye and his team filed a notice of appeal at the Supreme Court stating their dissatisfaction with the decision of the Court of Appeal, Abuja, in the judgment of the court delivered on the 24th day of November 2016. The reliefs sought from the Supreme Court include the setting aside of the judgment of the Lower Court delivered on the 24th of November 2016 and affirming the judgment of the Federal High Court delivered on the 29th of June 2016 because of three fundamental errors in law.”

He added: “The first error that they sought redress for was the fact that the justices of the Court of Appeal failed to consider from the affidavit evidence before it that the Appellants had been elected as officers of the Executive Committee of the PDP in their respective states at state congresses of the party held in their respective states on the 10th of May 2016, prior to the appointment of Senator Ahmed Makarfi and Senator Ben Obi as chairman and secretary respectively of the National Caretaker Committee on the 21st of May, 2016. The panel erred because it still granted their prayer to be joined as Respondents in a case, acting in flagrant disregard for the fact that the National Executive Committee of the party had already resolved to accept and recognize the Prince Biyi Poroye’s led executive as the legal executive of the party in the state. Moreover, there was a letter acknowledging their recognition before the May 21st travesty in Port Harcourt that threw up the National Caretaker Committee. The learned justices of the lower court did not advert their minds to the fact that there was no question before the trial court that could not be effectively and effectually determined without the joinder of Makarfi and Obi as parties to the suit.

The decision of the lower court is, therefore, contrary to the settled principle of the law that a cause of action can only be defeated by reason of non-joinder of a party where it is shown that the party is a necessary party without whose presence the issue in controversy before the court cannot be effectually and completely determined.

If the appeal court panel had acknowledged this fundamental principle of law, then there would have been no basis for setting aside the judgment of the Federal High Court. Neither would there have been any reason to question the rights of the trial judge to deal with the matter in relation to the parties that were actually before it. Thus the issue of the violation of Makarfi and Obi’s rights to fair hearing would not have arisen.”

He accused Governor Olusegun Mimiko and his cohorts of twisting the facts and propagating lies to justify their mischief and curry sympathy.

“The good people of Ondo State have once again reaffirmed that the electorate is the cornerstone of our democracy. Our democracy has a good chance of surviving and defeating the shenanigans of Dr. Mimiko and his cohorts all over this country. Our democracy is capable of defending itself and preserving its essence.

“Today, Nigerians seem to have accommodated and adapted to a crises-ridden PDP. People are now apt at talking about factions that should not exist. But, this seemingly intractable crisis began as a ripple in the South West zone of the party. A governor suddenly became too big for his shoes and began arrogating to himself powers and rights that were not his. He began usurping the rights of others in pursuit of a distant ambition that he had no business nursing. And to guarantee his capacity to actualise his ambition, he sought to take control of the structures of the party. He scammed his colleagues for their support and in the same spirit he connived with them to illegally and unconstitutionally attempt to change the leadership of the party in the South West as well as at the national level,” he said.‎