COURT EXHIBIT REVEALS SEN ALBERT ‘DUBIOUSLY’ PURCHASED 1000 DELEGATES FORMS TO RIG PDP CONGRESS

These are not the best of times for supporters of an Akwa Ibom governorship aspirant, Senator Bassey Albert whose alleged attempt to use the court to scuttle the PDP nomination exercises appears to be a futile show.

Senator Albert is accused of attempting to criminally plot the rigging of the April 30, 2022 Wards Adhoc congress in a dubious manner.

The 987 Adhoc Delegates elected during the April 30th PDP Ward Congress in Akwa Ibom State filed these accusations in a preliminary objection questioning the status of the petitioners Friday Iwok and 30 others, who are opposing their emergence as delegates in a federal high court in Abuja.

When the case resumes for hearing on June 14 before Justice Obiora Egwatu, the defendants will be expecting response to their objection on why a document attached to the Plaintiffs Counter Affidavit titled: “AD-HOC DELEGATES LIST FOR FORMS PURCHASE” Exhibit Q, shows that a Governorship Aspirant Senator Albert Bassey had purchased One Thousand (1000) Forms for himself.

They are accusing the Uyo Senator of “dubiously purchasing the forms in his name to be distributed to his own cronies, so that they would possibly vote for him at the Governorship Congress.”

This revelation, they maintained shows, none of the Plaintiffs bought the expression of interest form or in any way showed interest in contesting the Ad hoc Delegate election and therefore do not have the locus standi to challenge the exercise.

Represented by 329 of their members, the delegates, through their Counsel, Uwemedimo Nwoko,SAN, told the Federal High Court in Abuja that the Originating Summons by the claimants is “incompetent and incurably bad in Law.”
 
Barr Nwoko had argued that, “having not participated in the ward Congress, the plaintiffs are strangers to the ward Congress.”
 
He argued further that the Ward Congress is an internal and domestic affair of the PDP, the 2nd Defendant and the Court lacked the jurisdiction to adjudicate on it.
 
Challenging the jurisdiction of the court, the PDP and the AdHoc Delegates reasoned that “the suit is challenging the conduct of the party congress which is not within the purview of pre-election matter as covered by Section 84 of the Electoral Act 2022.
 
The 12-point objection also maintained that “The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Constitution has very robust internal dispute resolution mechanisms in its provision which members are mandated to explore and exhaust, before instituting any external dispute resolution intervention.
 
The 3rd - 331st defendants insisted that the suit was premature since Friday Iwok and his co-travelers did not seek and exhaust the internal dispute resolution mechanism of the party before instituting the suit.

Mr. Friday Iwok and his fellow supporters of defeated Governorship aspirant, Senator Bassey Albert (OBA), are seeking the order of the court to nullify the April 30, 2022 Akwa Ibom PDP Ad-Hoc delegates congress in the 329 wards in the State.

During the last hearing on the case on May 25, Counsel to the Plaintiffs, Mr Ahmed Raji, SAN had appealed for additional time to study the additional preliminary objections raised by the 2nd defendant and the 3rd to 331st defendants.

Raji had also wanted the court to rather examine pending motions while giving him time to study the issues raised in the preliminary objections raised by the defense counsel.

“In the circumstances, it is my prayer that all pending motions be taken so that today will not be a waste", he prayed.

But Paul Usoro,SAN however insisted that the court had earlier agreed with an earlier authority in a matter between Dangote and African Petroleum(AP), that preliminary objections must be heard first before the substantive matter is heard.

Chief Usoro prayed the court to adjourn to a later date if the Plaintiff’s Counsel sought more time to study the preliminary objections.

Uwemedimo Nwoko, SAN, on his part agreed with the arguments of the Counsel to the 2nd Defendant on the need to exhaust the preliminary objections challenging the jurisdiction of the court and the locus standi of the petitioners.

“My lord, in our local parlance they used to say, an aeroplane does not have a reverse gear, meaning that the court cannot reverse itself.”

Arguing further on the need to adjourn the matter, Nwoko said, “Inside the court earlier today, we have been served with two affidavits by the Plaintiffs and I have not yet to read the contents of the documents.”

“My lord, in our local parlance they used to say, aeroplane does not have a reverse gear, meaning that the court cannot reverse itself.”

Justice Obiora Egwatu in his ruling, adjourned the case to June 14 for hearing on all applications before the court.