One of the presidential aspirants on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Cosmos Ndukwe has opened up by declaring that he is the plaintiff that sued the Party’s Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, to court and not Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State.
Ndukwe, a former Chief of Staff to the Governor of Abia State, and close ally of Governor Wike, admitted and clarified that he instituted the case contrary to reports making the rounds in public space.
His clarification followed the denial by Wike of having anything to do with the suit having not done so within two weeks being the time allowed by law for pre-election matters.
Governor Wike had said; “I want to state categorically that if I wanted to go to court, I will go to court. I have kept quiet and busy delivering dividends of democracy. If I wanted to, I would have gone to court within two weeks after the primary. Because that is a pre-election matter”. Curiously, the case against Atiku, Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto State and the PDP over the conduct of the party’s presidential primary, has Wike and a chieftain of the PDP, Newgent Ekamon listed as plaintiffs.
In the originating summons, Ndukwe, who was a Deputy Speaker of the Abia State House of Assembly, in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/782/2022, had the PDP listed as the first respondent while the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), is the second respondent.
Similarly, Tambuwal and Atiku were listed as the third and fourth respondents respectively in which Ekamon is urging the Court to determine eight points in addition to settling whether the transfer of votes by Tambuwal to Atiku in the primary was not illegal and void.
Ndukwe, whose name didn’t appear in the suit has claimed ownership of the suit, saying that he decided to take Atiku and PDP to court for gross violation of the party’s constitution on zoning.
He explained that the PDP had over the years enshrined zoning in its constitution and observed same for equity and justice thus, expressed shock that the party for no justifiable reasons jettisoned the zoning policy in choosing its presidential flag bearer for 2023.
Ndukwe further said he had shortly before the party primary gone to court to challenge the refusal of the PDP to zone its presidential ticket to the South.
