PDP berates Peterside, Abe over comments on Tai LGA court order
(Nigeria) The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Rivers State has
berated the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in
the state in the 2015 election, Mr. Dakuku Peterside; Sen Magnus Abe, APC candidate for Rivers South
East senatorial district; Mr. Barry
Mpigi, APC candidate for Tai/Eleme/Oyigbo federal constituency and other
members of the APC over the aspersion they are casting on the person of Justice
Ibrahim Liman of a Federal High Court
sitting in Port Harcourt.
It will be recalled that the judge had in June 2016,
restrained the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in an
interlocutory injunction from announcing any results or figures however,
generated or compiled purported to be the result of the re-run election for any
or all of Khana, Bonny, Gokana, Andoni, Eleme, and Tai Local Government Areas
of Rivers State or any part of the re-run election scheduled for March 19,
2016, which election was subsequently postponed by INEC.
State PDP Chairman, Mr Felix Obuah in a statement in Port
Harcourt, yesterday, said “We wish to make the following clarifications
following attacks on the judge, the judiciary and denial that such order of
court exists.
“It is the position of the law as stated clearly by the
Supreme Court that once a suit has been filed and party involved served, the
party can no longer do anything, whether
or not the court has made any pronouncement or order on the subject matter in
litigation
“We want to put the records straight that INEC was properly
served and represented in court. INEC also filed papers and joined issues with
the PDP. INEC filed a counter-affidavit to the motion. INEC in the
counter-affidavit denied constituting any committee to come up with figure for
declaring the re-run elections results conducted in Rivers State on March 19,
2016.
“INEC further denied that it has ever written up or
contrived results for re-run election conducted in Rivers State. When the party or defendant in a suit has
been served and represented, party has
submitted himself to jurisdiction and anything he does afterwards, adversely to
the subject matter amount to self help and a mark of disrespect or contempt of
court.
“It is also a mark of irresponsibility on the part of such
defendant and it undermines the integrity of the court. It is even worse when
an order has been made against such defendant and the defendant who is being
represented, cannot claim non service with the order of court ruling, that is
because, the legal representative was in court and participated in the
proceeding.
“ If the legal practitioner had joined issues with the
claimant or plaintiff as the case may be, he has already indicted at law, that
he will be bound by whatever is the outcome of the litigation of the subject
matter.
“ It is only when an interim order is granted against the
defendant in an exparte application that the defendant can argue that he has
not been served with the order and can go ahead to do whatever he wants. In
this case, the ruling was an interlocutory injunction and not an interim order
and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC which was represented
by counsel has also joined issues and was present during proceedings of the
court.
“Therefore, they need not be served with the interlocutory
order, because they were in court. INEC, cannot base their disobedience on the
court ruling for not being served because it goes to no issue in law.
“ The pronouncement on August 18, 2016 by Amina Zakari, INEC
National Electoral Commissioner in charge of Operations on the purported Tai
LGA re-run election on March 19, 2016, whether oral or written, is a clear case
of contempt of court, and a violation of an interlocutory injunction made in
June 2016, because it undermines the integrity of the court which gave an order
in June 2016 restricting INEC from declaring the result of Tai LGA.
“ Amina Zakari’s pronouncement on Tai LGA re-run election
result is of no legal moment, because it cannot circumvent or supersede or
subsume the order of the court of law, made in June 2016 more so, when the
order is an interlocutory and not an interim order.
“The statement on the court order was issued by the PDP on
August 23, 2016 however, does not in any
way make or amount to the court order as fake nor should be taken to be the date
of the issuance of the court order. Accordingly, the PDP would take advantage
of what the law says and file for contempt of court.
“The PDP would also press criminal charges against APC candidates,
who lay claim to these illegal and criminal results, as there were no elections
in Tai LGA of Rivers State, following repeated cases of violence, hijack of
election materials, killings orchestrated by members of the APC in Tai, which
impeded the election in the early hours of March 19, 2016 and prompted the suspension
of election in Tai LGA by INEC.
“The PDP will also demand to know in whose possessions were these fake and criminal results five
months after the elections in Tai LGA were cancelled,” he added.
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