Court dismisses case against Ondo PDP

The Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday dismissed the application of some aggrieved members of the Peoples Democratic Party in Ondo State seek­ing the nullification of the list of the party’s candi­dates in the forthcoming general elections as pub­lished by the Indepen­dent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Delivering judgment in the suit number FHC/ ABJ/CS/1006/14 instituted against the party by the group led by Dr Olu Ogu­nye in alliance with Bar­rister Jimoh Ibrahim and Dr Olu Agunloye, Hon. Justice Adeniyi Ademola held that it will not interfere with the powers of the leadership of PDP to decide which person to sponsor for the elections.
Against the submission of the group that the party’s leadership in Ondo state flouted the court’s order in respect of the same suit, the court said it did not find any of its orders flouted, and consequently, the court re­fused to recognize the list of the Ogunye group which it had prepared with the inten­tion of replacing it with the INEC published list.
In court to witness pro­ceedings were Dr Olu Agun­loye who had earlier led the aggrieved group on a protest on Thursday.
Jimoh Ibrahim who had been attending court ses­sions since the suit was insti­tuted was however absent in court on Friday, even as the case has been adjourned till the 5^th of March 2015.
Reacting to the judge­ment, the state’s publicity secretary of the PDP, Hon. Banji Okunomo said there is no victor or loser in the case adding that the goal of the party is to ensure that every member comes together to ensure victory for it in the coming elections.
He implored members of the party who had gone to court to join hands with other members to work for the victory of President Goodluck Jonathan and other candidates of the party in the elections due to hold next week.