A Federal High Court sitting in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital, on Monday nullified the recent ward, council and state congresses of the Peoples Democratic Party in the state.
It also restrained the Independent National Electoral Commission, the second defendant in the suit, from recognising the elected officers.
The judgement was as a result of a suit filed by Nnenna Lynda Udeh and 12 others against the PDP in 2024.
The applicant prayed the court to set aside the Congresses for being unconstitutional.
The News Agency of Nigeria recalls that some stakeholders of the party had on November 2 conducted a congress and elected Peter Nwele as the new Chairman of the party in the state.
The Presiding Judge, Justice Hilary Oshomah, in his ruling, said the congresses did not follow democratic procedures of the party.
Oshomah noted that the congresses were void, unconstitutional and of no effect.
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He, therefore, ordered that the executives elected during the congresses should cease parading themselves as members of the State Executive Working Committee.
“The congress of the PDP in the state is nullified, unconstitutional and of no effect whatsoever,” the judge stated.
Mudi Erhenede, the lead counsel for the Plaintiffs, commended the judgement.
Erhenede said: “Our clients went to the court because they were not allowed to have access to the nomination forms.”
He said while the case was still pending, the PDP went ahead and conducted the congress, adding: “So, the court has ruled in our favour.
“The congress did not follow the democratic processes of the party.
“It is a law that all parties should be allowed to have access to the form.”