Oyinlola’s reinstatement: PDP goes to Supreme Court

Oyinlola is the secretary of the New PDP

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has said it will proceed to the Supreme Court to challenge Wednesday’s Appeal Court’s reinstatement of former Osun State governor, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, as its National Secretary.

The Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the party, Abdullahi Jalo, disclosed this to journalists in Gombe, on Friday.

Mr. Jalo said that the party’s legal team was already preparing papers to appeal the judgement, adding that Mr. Oyinlola would not be sworn-in.

“Now, we are going to apply for a stay of execution. Oyinlola should not be allowed to even go close to Wadata Plaza, the national secretariat of the party.

“He cannot go there; we are appealing against the decision,” Mr. Jalo said.

He, however, added, “We respect what the judiciary has done and it is an act of courage, and whoever was the judge that did it, he did it within the premise of the law and we have taken it in good faith.

“But we are appealing against the decision of the court and this is the decision of PDP.”

Mr. Oyinlola is currently the National Secretary of the Abubakar Baraje faction of the PDP, tagged ‘New PDP’. The faction also includes seven state governors, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, and other leaders of the party.

On claims by the Kawu Baraje-faction of the party that it had taken over Gombe State, Mr. Jalo dismissed it, saying it was contemptuous because there was a court judgement nullifying the new PDP.

He said the National Publicity Secretary of the faction, Chukwuemeka Eze, who was credited with the claim, was neither in Gombe nor knew Gombe and was, therefore, not qualified to make statements on the state.

“When somebody makes this kind of statement, even a layman will know that it is contemptuous. The law enforcement agencies should have even arrested them because it is a flagrant abuse of court process.

“There is a valid court judgment which has not been appealed against and it is a substantive judgment,” he said.

Mr. Jalo also decried a claim by a former governor of the state, Danjuma Goje, that he (Mr. Goje) was the leader of PDP in the state. He said that Mr. Goje ought not to have made such a statement.

According to him, as an ex-governor, Mr. Goje should know that the incumbent governor, Ibrahim Dankwambo, was the leader of the party in the state.

He said he would lodge a formal complaint to the party on the conduct of the former governor.

(NAN)