By; MKPUMA ENYINNA, Abakaliki
A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has forwarded reasons why it sacked the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chairman in Ebonyi State, Hon.Tochukwu Okorie from office, ordering the party to swear-in Barr. Silas Onu as the new chairman.
Delivering his judgement, the court ruled that Mr. Okorie was not validly nominated to contest election into the position, adding that he was indolent in submitting his nomination form and could not benefit from his wrongdoing.
The judge, Justice Ahmed Mohammed, declared that Mr. Okorie submitted his nomination form on October 4, 2021; days after the October 1, 2021 deadline stipulated in the guidelines on the conduct of congresses.
Mr. Mohammed stressed that Mr. Okorie could, therefore, not have been validly nominated and was not qualified to contest in the election held on October 16, 2021.
He consequently directed the PDP to hold that only Silas Onu who filed the suit, was lawfully nominated to participate in the election of October 16, 2021.
He also directed the party to issue a certificate of return to Mr. Onu, declaring him as the duly elected chairman of PDP, Ebonyi chapter.
The judge had earlier dismissed the preliminary objection filed by the PDP, where it alleged that Mr Onu did not exhaust internal mechanisms available for resolving party matters before heading to court.
He ruled that PDP’s objection failed because the party was silent about the date Mr Okorie submitted his nomination form.
Reacting on the judgement, the embattled PDP chairman, Mr. Tochukwu Okorie in a statement released immediately after the judgement, stated that the Federal High Court judgment which favoured Silas Onu has been appealed on 13th of April 2022 in a motion on notice seeking for the stay of execution of same judgement of the Federal High Court in Abuja and has been filled and served to the People’s Democratic Party and therefore, urged the general public to disregard the purported swearing-in of Silas Joseph Onu as the state chairman of the party, stating that Joseph Silas Onu, cannot be sworn-in, without first being issued with a certificate of return, by the Peoples Democratic Party and PDP cannot issue a certificate of return, when the certified true copy of the judgment of the court has not been served on it.
The statement reads in parts, “We want to inform the esteemed members of the Peoples Democratic Party, Ebonyi State Chapter and indeed the general public, that the judgment of the Federal High Court Abuja, delivered by Hon Justice A.R Mohammed which favoured Mr. Silas Onu has been appealed against, today, he 13th of April 2022.
“A motion on notice seeking for the stay of the execution of same judgment of the Federal High Court has also been filed by us and served on the Peoples Democratic Party.
“Consequently, we urge our supporters and the general public, to disregard, the alleged document purporting to swear in Joseph Silas Onu, as the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Ebonyi State.
“It should be noted, that Joseph Silas Onu, cannot be sworn in, without the enrolled judgement of the Federal High Court being served on the Peoples Democratic Party. As at today, the “judgment of the Federal High Court is not even ready in print, and same is yet to be served on the Peoples Democratic Party.
“Joseph Silas Onu, cannot be sworn in, without first being issued with a certificate of return, by the Peoples Democratic Party and PDP cannot issue a certificate of return, when the certified true copy of the judgment of the court has not been served on it.
“Furthermore, we have already filed our notice of appeal, and also filed a motion for the stay of execution of the judgment of the Federal High Court. Consequent upon the filing of the notice of appeal, and application for stay of execution, PDP, is naturally estopped from taking any further steps in the matter, pending the hearing and final determination of the appeal.
“The general public and indeed, members of the Peoples Democratic Party, are therefore, warned, of the illegality of any dealing with Joseph Silas Onu, allegedly as the Chairman of PDP Ebonyi State Chapter, as nothing has changed, given the appeal against the judgment of the Federal High Court today.”
Earlier In a statement released by the state Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr.Nwoba Chika Nwaoba said the decision of the court only affected the chairman and not the entire executive members of the party adding that the embattled chairman is filling an appeal against the judgement.
The statement reads in parts: “A Federal High Court in Abuja today sacked the chairman of PDP in Ebonyi State, Chief Tochukwu Okorie and ordered that Barr Silas Onu be sworn in as chairman. “Currently, the sacked chairman is filing an appeal.
“The ruling only affected the position of chairman and not the entire executive committee. The high court has exercised its powers and it’s incumbent on the affected to appeal its decision.”
It would be recalled that Hon. Tochukwu Okorie scored 1,240 votes to defeat his closest rival, Mr.Silas Onu who scored 260 votes to emerge as the substantive PDP Chairman in Ebonyi State.
Announcing the result, the chairman Ebonyi PDP State Congress Committee, Senator Ben Collins Ndu said that a total of 1,510 delegates were accredited, adding that the election was a free and fair contest but one of the chairmanship aspirants who was Publicity Secretary of the party, Silas Onu, said he will challenge the outcome of the congress, alleging that he was not given a level playground during the exercise that led to his defeat and therefore, threatened to challenge the outcome in court, a threat he fulfilled.
