Former President Olusegun Obasanjo's faction of the Peoples Democratic Party in Ogun State yesterday won another round in the battle on who will fly the party's flag in next month's elections.
A Federal High Court in Abuja declared Adetunji Olurin, the "authentic candidate" for the governorship elections in the state.
Abdul Kafarati, the presiding judge, added that the Governor Gbenga Daniel-led faction has been dissolved by the national working committee of the party and the court.
The Obasanjo faction had secured a court injunction restraining the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the PDP from accepting or acting upon the results of the primaries conducted by Mr. Daniel's faction, pending the determination of the substantive suit filed on the matter.
The two factions had conducted parallel governorship and National Assembly primaries that led to the emergence of different winners. While Isiaka Gboyega emerged from the Daniel camp, Mr. Olurin emerged from the Obasanjo faction.
Ruling on the motion filed by Mr. Olurin and others with INEC and PDP as respondents, the court restrained INEC and PDP "from announcing or making any pronouncement validating the result of the primaries/congresses conducted in the Ogun State pending the hearing of the originating summons" in the case.
This ends the crisis over who will be the governorship candidate of the party at the April elections after two candidates were fielded by the factions.
In his argument, the PDP counsel, Lateef Fagbemi, said that the Joju Fadairo-led executive is the "authentic" executive of the party in Ogun State, saddled with the responsibility of conducting primary elections. Mr. Fagbemi subsequently urged the court to recognise the primary elections conducted by the factional chairman, Mr. Fadairo, on the ground that a judgment delivered by an Ogun State High Court recognised him as the chairman.
But counsel to Mr. Olurin, Olagoke Fakunle, however, told the court to discountenance the submissions of Mr. Fagbemi on the ground that the Fadairo-led executive conducted an illegal primary election in violation of a subsisting court order which sacked him. Mr. Fakunle, therefore, asked the court to dismiss Mr. Fagbemi's arguments and uphold Mr. Olurin as the validly elected governorship candidate of the party in Ogun State.
Mr. Kafarati, in his judgment, said that the Fadairo-led executive of the state stands dissolved, following an order of a Federal High Court in Lagos confirming the dissolution. He added that the injunction granted against it by the court from parading itself as the executive of the state PDP had not been vacated.
According to him, the court injunction granted to the Fadairo faction by a high court in Abeokuta in August 2010 was not necessary and cannot be binding on the plaintiff since the act had already been completed, and there is an appeal against it.
"The dissolution of the Fadairo-led executive was done through a letter in May while the injunction restraining the PDP from dissolving the Fadairo faction was granted in August 2010.
"The plaintiffs could not have been expected to participate in the congress conducted by the Fadairo faction. There was a high court order made against the Fadairo faction. The order still subsists since it has not been set aside," Mr. Kafarati said.
Dissatisfied with the judgment, the PDP filed a notice of appeal at the Appeal Court, Abuja, challenging the court decision. Mr. Fagbemi averred that the trial judge erred in law in granting the claim of the plaintiffs.
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