3 PDP Members Has Sued Obanikoro To Compound His Woes

Immediate past Minister of State for Defence and governorship aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, yesterday urged a Lagos State High Court, sitting in Ikeja to dismiss the case instituted against him by some chieftains of the party.
Three PDP members in the state, Micheal Babatunde Ogun, Suleiman Olayinka Saheed and Wasiu Adeniyi Odusan had sued Obanikoro on the grounds that he was not eligible to contest the governorship ticket of his party.
Joined as defendants in the case were Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the PDP.
Among other reliefs, the applicants had sought a declaration of the court that Obanikoro was not eligible to contest the primaries based on paragraph 4(a) of Part IV of the Electoral Guidelines for Primary Election 2014 of the PDP and his antecedents as particularised in the affidavit in support of the originating summon.
They also sought a declaration that the first respondent (Obanikoro) stood disqualified by virtue of constitutional provisions, including Electoral Act from aspiring for nomination in the governorship primaries of the third respondent or “any registered political party in Nigeria for the purpose of contesting 2015 general elections for governorship in Lagos State or any subsequent elections in Nigeria.”
The applicants sought an order of interlocutory injunction restraining the first defendant from participating in the governorship primaries of the PDP held on Monday “or in the alternative, of any of the registered political parties in Nigeria.”
They also sought for an order of interlocutory injunction restraining the PDP from nominating Senator Obanikoro to INEC for the purpose of contesting the 2015 governorship elections in Lagos State or any subsequent elections in Nigeria pending the hearing and determination of the originating summons.
But at the resumed sitting of the court on the matter, yesterday, Obanikoro brought an application through his counsel, Gbenga Ojo, asking the court to strike out or dismiss the originating summons, describing it as an abuse of court process.
He also asked for an order of the court striking out or dismissing the originating summons, which he said did not disclose reasonable cause of action and for any other the court may deem fit to make in the circumstances.
Obanikoro based his objection on the grounds that all the documents relied upon by the applicants are ‘either uncertified public document or documents printed from Internet without authentication of the source or certification.’
Counsel to the applicants, Wahab Shittu, however, told the court that they were prepared to move the originating summon since the matter was slated for hearing yesterday.
But Obanikoro’s counsel said there was no need to proceed into the matter since his client has lost the governorship primary election of the PDP in Lagos.
Justice Alogba, however, referred Obanikoro’s counsel to one of the reliefs sought by the applicants in their originating summons, especially the aspect that urged the court to restrain the former minister ‘from participating in the governorship primaries of the PDP or in the alternative, of any of the registered political parties in Nigeria.’
It was at this juncture that counsel to INEC, Juliana Nnamdi said the electoral commission only received the summons yesterday morning in its Lagos office and needed time to respond, urging the court for an adjournment to enable the commision file necessary papers.
Also, counsel to the PDP, Samson Ozah, told the court that they were yet to file any process as they only got instruction to represent the party yesterday morning.
Justice Alogba adjourned the matter to January 14, 2015 for hearing of the originating summon while urging all parties to file all applications before the adjourned date