Dare Babalola
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has stated that it is awaiting the Court of Appeal’s judgment on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leadership crisis, following a meeting with representatives of rival factions.
Recall that the electioneering body on Friday intervened in the party’s leadership crisis, summoning rival factions to its Abuja headquarters to address the ongoing dispute.
The meeting brought together rival PDP factions, with Kabiru Turaki’s group facing off against Abdulrahman Mohammed’s faction, which is backed by FCT Minister Nyesom Wike.
The development was made public on Friday in a statement signed by Ini Ememobong, the National Publicity Secretary of Turaki’s faction.
He wrote, “Earlier today, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Prof. Joash Amupitan SAN invited the Kabiru Turaki-led National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party and some former members of our party who are claiming to be in different leadership positions in the party, to in his words ‘find a way to resolve the lingering crisis in the party’.
“Both sides exhaustively presented the facts of the situation and confirmed that the issues are now before the Court of Appeal. At the end, the INEC Chairman concluded that the meeting was called to hear from both sides, though the commission is aware of the pending cases at the Court of Appeal and that the Commission awaits the final judgement of the Court on the matter.”
Ememobong quoted Turaki to have said, “As the authentic leadership of the party that emerged at a valid convention(though contested in court), while awaiting the pronouncement of the court, we will continue to undertake the duties of an opposition party, which is to hold government to account on critical issues like security, infrastructure, education, healthcare etc.”
