Court Sacks Rivers PDP Executive, Nullifies State, LG Congresses

A High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has sacked the Hon. Aaron Chukwuemeka-led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state.

This is as the Court nullified and voided all the positions of the party in the state as emerged from the controversial State, LGA and Ward congresses conducted by pro-Wike supporters in 2024.

The court restrained Aaron Chukwuemeka and other executives, who emerged from the Congresses of the party, from acting as executive members of the PDP at all levels in the state.

Justice Stephen Jumbo in an interlocutory injunction ruled that the ward, local government and state congresses had no legal standing and were invalid from the onset.

Justice Jumbo’s ruling followed a suit brought before the court by two Port Harcourt-based legal practitioners, Edwin Woko and Love Otuonye, and two others who are members of PDP, against the party’s National Chairman, state chairman, Aaron Chukwuemeka and nine others.

The court had reserved to give a ruling today, the 13th of January, after hearing arguments from both parties in the substantive suit.

Woko and Otuonye, and two others had prayed the court for an order of Interlocutory Injunction to set aside and nullify the purported Congresses conducted in the 319 ward, 23 local government Areas and the state structure of PDP in Rivers State.

The congress, which was conducted on the 27th of July, 10th of August and 31st of August 2024, was said to have been organised despite court injunctions stopping the process.

The applicants claimed that the congresses were allegedly done in violation and flagrant disobedience to the order of Rivers State High Court issued on the 16th of July 2024, which stopped the PDP and National Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, their agents, servants, privies from conducting congresses pending the hearing and determination of the originating summons already filed.

Woko and Otuonye and two others sought for an order to restrain Aaron Chukeuemeka and others, who are second set of defendants in the suit from acting, representing or parading themselves as members of the state executive committee or officers of the PDP.

They are also seeking an order of court granting that themselves, being the claimants/applicants, are the authentic and subsisting members of the state executive committee of PDP and that the court should direct the PDP, and its National leadership to, henceforth, recognise and deal with the applicants.

The presided judge, Jumbo, after listening to the presentations, granted all the prayers of the applicants and restrained Chukwuemeka and other from acting as the members of the party.

This ruling marks another major setback for loyalists of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Chief Nyesom Wike.