PDP, Mu’azu deny sacking Ondo exco

Adamu Mu’azu

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),its National Chairman, Adamu Mu’azu and others have denied claims by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, that the Ebenezer Alabi-led Executive Committee in Ondo State was dissolved.

The PDP, Mu’azu and others, who are defendants in a suit by members of the Alabi-led committee, denied dissolving the Ondo Executive Committee.

They said the party’s national leadership never stopped recognising and relating with the Alabi committee as the party’s only executive in Ondo State.

Their position was contained in a written address and a counter-affidavit, dated November 3, filed in response to the case before Justice Sylvanus Oriji of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Apo, Abuja.

Metuh had, in a statement on October 26, announced the dissolution of the Alabi-led executive committee and the constitution of a caretaker committee headed by Dare Adeleke.

Also joined in the suit are the Deputy National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, National Secretary Prof. Wale Oladipo, Metuh, Senate President David Mark and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The plaintiffs include Alabi, Ondo PDP Deputy Chairman Fatai Adams, and its Secretary, Oyedele Ibine and three party chairmen at the local government level.

The defendants, who have also opposed the plaintiff’s application for “an order of mandatory injunction setting aside the purported dissolution” of the party exco in Ondo State, said, in a supporting affidavit, that the claims by the plaintiffs in their application dated October 27 were false and misleading.

The defendants, in their written address by their lawyer, Victory Kwon, added that “on the contrary and significantly, the first – 13th defendants (PDP national leadership) have continued to deal with only the plaintiffs/applicants (Ebenezer Alabi-led exco) as regards to its activities in Ondo State.

The defendants also stated, in their counter-affidavit deposed to by Nanchang Ndam, that “on the contrary, the first – 13th defendants have only dealt with the plaintiffs/applicants to the exclusion of any other person as regards its activities in Ondo State.”

Alabi and others had, in their application, accused the defendants of having engaged in “serial acts aimed at appropriating to themselves or destroying the subject matter of the suit”.

They urged the court to grant its application for mandatory injunction “declaring null and void and of no effect all steps, acts or things done by the caretaker committee pending the determination of the suit.”

The court will conduct hearing on the applications filed by both parties today.