A Federal High Court sitting in Abakaliki, Ebonyi state capital, on Friday validated all the primary elections of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) conducted on May 28 and 29, 2022 in the state.
News Express reports that a similar Federal High Court sitting in Abuja had a few days ago voided the same primary elections of the PDP conducted on May 28 and 29, 2022.
The court ruled that the PDP primary elections conducted on those dates still subsist and remained valid.
Speaking to newsmen shortly after the ruling, the counsel to PDP, Barr. Mudi Erenede said: “We have been inundated with social media publications that Tochukwu Okorie, the chairman of PDP got judgement in Abuja, nullifying the primaries of PDP. We are yet to see that judgement because he did not make Anyichuks who is the governorship candidate of PDP a party to that suit.
“He also did not make Silas Onu, whom he is contending the chairmanship with a defendant to that suit. So, they just filed a suit between the nominal defendants, he claimed to have suit PDP and INEC, the national adviser to PDP was never aware of that suits until this news started breaking on social media.
“You know when you engage in illegality, sometimes you undo yourself without knowing. We discovered that, the same Tochukwu Okorie aided by the same lawyer filed the same suit they are celebrating with the same issue in Abuja but the chief judge of the federal High court, transferred it back to this Abakaliki Federal High Court.
“The court in a judgement that was just delivered, held that Tochukwu Okorie is in abuse of the judicial processes. For him to be filing the same suits, in several divisions over one disputes, which is what we call in law, a forum shopping.
“Tochukwu Okorie is involved in forum shopping and we refered the court to suit no. FHC/ABJ/CS/871/2022, also filed by Tochukwu Okorie and Obinna Ogba in Abuja and was transferred here.
“The practice they have been engaging is to file cases in other divisions were they can get cheap judgement. The essence of this judgement, is that the claims filed by Tochukwu Okorie which is for the court to set aside, the Primaries of 28th and 29th, to set aside the Congresses of PDP, have been dismissed by this court today.
“And this judgement is later in time, to the one they are celebrating in Abuja. We want to tell the general public that the mandate of Chief Ifeanyi Chukwuma Odii and all other candidates of PDP who participated in the Primaries of 28th and 29th May 2022 remains valid and subsisting.”
In a swift reaction, the PDP state Chairman, Tochukwu Okorie said he had the intention to withdraw the same suit before it was dismissed today.
He stated that the judgement delivered today by Justice Fatun Riman has nothing to do with the earlier judgement that was delivered in Abuja by Justice Binta Nyako.
