By Edwin Uhara
\nFollowing the unanimous adoption of President Good Luck Jonathan by the
\nNational Executive Committee (NEC) of the ruling People Democratic
\nParty (PDP) as its sole Presidential Candidate for next year
\nPresidential election at its 66th NEC meeting in Abuja last month, many
\nhad thought that the party is now united to face the opposition All
\nProgressives Congress (APC) in the February 14, 2015 Presidential
\nelection, but, with the latest news coming from the largest political
\nparty in Africa, all is not yet uhuru.
\nIt was reported earlier this week by a national daily that a former
\ngovernorship aspirant for Adamawa state by-election on the platform of the
\nPeople Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Umar Ardo has filed an appeal
\nbefore the Court of Appeal Abuja, asking it to grant him leave as an
\ninterested party to be joined in an earlier suit decided at a Federal High
\nCourt Abuja between one Mr. Cyriacus Njoku, a member of the ruling party
\nand President Good Luck Jonathan. It will be recalled that, the said Njoku
\nhad in suit no. FCT\/HC\/CV\/2449\/2012 filed before an Abuja High Court was
\nchallenging the legality of President Good Luck Jonathan standing for an
\nelection next year, having taken an Oath of Office twice. While delivering
\njudgment on the matter on March 1st 2013, the court held that President
\nJonathan was eligible to contest the 2015 Presidential election. This made
\nMr. Njoku to appeal the judgment which is still pending at the Court of
\nAppeal.
\nIn lieu of this, Dr. Ardo is depending on the logic of the case to sue Dr.
\nJonathan and the PDP for adopting him as the sole Presidential Candidate
\nof the party for next year Presidential election.
\nIn the suit filed by Dr. Amuda Kannike (SAN) and Doueyi Fierikuno on
\nbehalf of Dr. Ardo is asking the court to quash the September 8, 2014
\nresolution of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party which
\nendorsed President Jonathan as its sole Presidential candidate. He claimed
\nthat his fundamental human rights as a Nigerian and as a financial member
\nof the PDP had been breached by the endorsement of the President by the
\nNEC and other organs of the party.
\nHe has this to say: Iam desirous of contesting the election to the
\noffice of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which is slated
\nto hold on or before February 2015. And my desire is mainly built on my
\nconviction that the President would not be eligible to contest the said
\nelection which would have cleared the way for a free and fair level
\nplaying ground contest for party primary. The Court of Appeal had
\nsubsequently fixed October 20 as a date for hearing the case.
\nHowever, while this article is not intended to pre-empt the outcome of the
\nsuit filed by Dr. Umar Ardo before the Court, it must state categorically
\nthat, Dr. Ardo has already jumped the gun by alleging that his desire to
\nvie for President is Mainly built on his conviction that the President
\nwould not be eligible to contest for next year Presidential
\nelection. (Sic)
\nAllegedly concluding that the President would not be eligible to contest
\nthe next year Presidential election when the appeal filed on the
\nPresident eligibility for re-election next year by Mr. Cyriacus Njoku
\nis still pending before the Court of Appeal, leaves bitter taste in the
\nmouth.
\nSecondly, it was never reported anywhere that Dr. Umar Ardo had at any
\ntime indicated interest to contest for President on PDP platform
\nbefore and as at the time the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the
\nparty adopted the President as its sole Presidential candidate. Instead,
\nall that was reported was that, Dr. Ardo was a governorship aspirant on
\nthe platform of the PDP for the botched October 11, 2014 Adamawa State
\nGovernorship bye-election.
\nBesides, the adoption of the President as sole candidate of the party by
\nthe NEC was not a unilateral decision, but a unanimous resolution by all
\norgans of the party; which includes the PDP Governors Forum and the Board
\nof Trustees (BOT) members of the party. And when the National Chairman of
\nthe party, Dr. Adamu Muazu subjected the various endorsements to voice
\nvote, there was no objection covertly or overtly. So, from where did the
\ncase of breaching the fundamental human rights of Dr. Ardo to vie for
\nPresident of Nigeria on the platform of the ruling People Democratic
\nParty (PDP) emanates from?
\nTrue answers to the above question has become very necessary because, a
\nnational daily had earlier reported that some group of persons from
\ncertain sections of the country have perfected plans to use multiple
\nlitigations to cow the President from seeking re-election next year.
\nBesides, if I may ask, is the lawsuit instituted against the adoption of
\nthe President as the sole candidate of the PDP for next year
\nPresidential election by Dr. Ardo, the first of the multiple lawsuits
\nagainst the President the first to be expected? Would they be instituting
\nthe suits against the President rationally or on flimsy grounds? Would
\nillogical and incoherent multiple lawsuits against the candidacy of Dr.
\nJonathan amount to abuse of judicial process? And when such abuse occur,
\nwhat would be the consequences to deter others from embarking on such
\nlegal jaywalk?
\nUntil cogent answers are provided to the above questions, Nigerians would
\nassume that this is another clandestine conspiracy against the hoi polloi
\nby certain elites in the country.
\nComrade Edwin Uhara is a staunched supporter of the President, an Activist
\nand a Public Affairs Commentator.
\nHe is also a member of PDP Project Reloaded Media Team, Abuja.
\nReach him on 07065862479 or edwinuhara@rocketmail.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Edwin Uhara Following the unanimous adoption of President Good Luck Jonathan by the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the ruling People Democratic Party (PDP) as its sole Presidential Candidate…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26603,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n