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Despite previous contradictory court decisions, Dr. Sam Amadi, the director of the Abuja School of Social and Political Thought, has maintained that the PDP convention is still legitimate and accepted by the law.
In an interview with Arise News on Saturday, Amadi stated that the most recent court order granted prior to the convention allowed the event to take place, making earlier judgements that contradicted it useless.
He claimed that the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) inability to function as a regulatory body and the issuance of “contradictory and unnecessary” ex parte rulings by the courts were the main causes of the controversy surrounding the party’s leadership crisis.
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He maintained that the convention was legally justified, pointing out that the court’s most recent ruling endorsed its actions.
“This convention is now legally binding,” Amadi said.
As I remember it, the convention won the most recent ruling that was rendered on Friday. Therefore, you cannot claim it is illegal.
“The true issue is that we have courts that both authorise and counterauthorize actions,” he stated.
According to Amadi, the incident brought to light a developing issue in Nigeria where political players scramble to obtain favourable rulings rather than waiting for the course of events to be completed.
By consistently deferring to the courts, Amadi accused INEC of eschewing its quasi-judicial duties.
Political parties were supposed to submit leadership documents to INEC, he clarified, and INEC was supposed to evaluate and make decisions before a judicial review was required.
He insisted that the information at hand supports the validity of the current Board of Trustees (BoT), arguing that it has been in place for more than three years and cannot be altered at will.
Amadi explained that the Supreme Court’s decision only prohibits courts from choosing party leaders, not from examining whether parties follow their internal regulations, in response to assertions that it prohibits judicial involvement in party affairs.
He emphasised the importance of due process in response to the recent expulsions of certain prominent members, including as Nyesom Wike and Ayodele Fayose, but he also questioned the loyalty of party leaders who were allegedly collaborating with alternative political platforms.