Baraje’s faction asks INEC to deregister Tukur’s PDP, opens party’s dirty secrets The group detailed a long list of violation of the law by the Tukur-led PDP. The crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, took a dramatic twist Tuesday as the breakaway faction led by Abubakar Baraje asked the Independent National Electoral Commission to deregister the Bamanga Tukur-led PDP. The new faction accused the Tukur-led PDP of failing to notify INEC of an amendment to the party’s constitution as required by the Nigerian constitution. Section 222 (D) of the Nigerian Constitution stipulates, ”Any alteration in its (political party) registered constitution is also registered in the principal office of the Independent National Electoral Commission within thirty days of the making of such alteration.” A statement of claims which the Baraje faction is taking before the Lagos High Court, also asked the court to declare Mr. Tukur an illegal chairman of the ruling party on account that his membership of the PDP was not properly approved as stipulated, after his expulsion by the National Executive Council of the PDP in 2001. The statement said the party’s constitution was amended in 2009 to give effect to the 2012 PDP constitution. However, the group said it has found evidence that “strange clauses” which were not part of the proposed amendment were inserted into the original produced version of the 2012 constitution, and those alterations were not approved by the party convention and the National Executive Committee as required by law. The group said those clauses rendered the current PDP constitution “forged and invalid”. “The forged 2012 constitution was not equally filled before INEC as required by the constitution, thereby making the PDP constitution upon which the 2013 convention was held an invalid document and the outcome of that convention invalid, as it was held with no valid constitution,” the claims filed by the Baraje faction, seen by journalists, said. “The proof of these evidence can be seen in the approved memo by the PDP NEC upon which the amendment was done in the 2012 and the original version of the PDP constitution filled with INEC will as well prove these violations.” A spokesperson for INEC, Kayode Idowu, said there was no immediate information on the petition. The application is the latest indication the crisis rocking the ruling party was far from over. The Baraje faction has the support of seven governors, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and several lawmakers. They accuse the Tukur-led PDP of hijacking the party and being dictatorial. A meeting between both sides fixed for Tuesday was postponed till September 10. In its filing before the court and INEC, the Baraje faction of the party recalled how Mr. Tukur was fired from the party on 31 May 2001, along with seven others. Those sacked were Bamanga Tukur, Don Etiebet, Asheik Jarma, Edwin Ume-Ezeoke, Emmanuel Ibeshi, Harry Marshal and Gbenga Olawepo. The group cited Article 10(b) iii of the PDP 2009 constitution and Article 8(17) of the 2012 amended constitution which states that any member of the party who loses his membership by expulsion can only return to the party with the approval of the party executive at his ward, state and national levels, who shall give him a waiver. “Since the expulsion of Bamanga Tukur in 2001, he has not complied with the above requirement of the PDP constitution, meaning that his purported participation at the 2012 convention where he was elected was a fraud and invalid, as he is not yet a member of the party,” the group said. The Baraje faction also asked for the declaration of the August 2013 convention of the PDP as illegal based on “participation of ‘illegal delegates’, the disqualification of elected delegates by the Screening Subcommittee of the National Convention Committee, and the failure of the party to comply with the provision of Section 85(1) of the Electoral Act. The section holds that, “a registered political party shall give INEC at least 21-day notice of any convention, congress, conference or meeting convened for the purpose of electing members of its executive committees, and other governing bodies.” Based on the provision, the Baraje faction also claimed that since the NEC of the PDP ratified the conduct of the 2013 national convention in its meeting of August 22, and the congress took place nine days after the NEC meeting on August 31, the party has run afoul of the required 21-day notice required to inform INEC about the exercise. The faction also claimed that there was evidence that unelected delegates from the South West Zonal Caretaker Committee participated and voted at the 2013 national convention, contravening Section 85(3) of the 2010 Electoral Act. They also claimed that the decision of the screening subcommittee to conduct the screening of delegates less than 24 hours before the convention, falls short of democratic conduct as it does not afford disqualified delegates to press for justice. The faction also claimed that the action of the PDP elected vice chairman, Uche Secondus, and his supporters to wear vests advocating for votes for Mr. Secondus violated Article K, Page 8, of the PDP Code of Conduct for Conventions, which states that, “a party member, aspirant, candidate or agent shall not canvass for votes within the vicinity of the congress venue or party primary convention.”
Posted on: Wed, 04 Sep 2013 14:38:26 +0000
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