Court Dismisses PDP Leaders’ Suit in Katsina State
- Katsina City News
- 10 Jan, 2025
- 133
A High Court in Katsina State has dismissed a case filed by prominent members of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) challenging the conduct of the party’s leadership elections at the ward, local government, and state levels last year.
The lawsuit was filed by Alhaji Mustafa Inuwa, a former Secretary to the State Government, alongside eight other key members of the party. They accused the PDP leadership of denying certain members access to nomination forms for the party's leadership positions.
The plaintiffs claimed to have filed the case on behalf of 7,905 party members who were dissatisfied with how the congresses were conducted.
In response, the PDP, through its legal representative, urged the court to dismiss the suit, arguing that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the case.
Delivering judgment, Justice Abbas Bawale ruled that the court indeed had no jurisdiction over the matter. He explained that disputes concerning party elections are internal issues that fall outside the purview of the court.
Justice Bawale referred to several precedents from other court rulings and cited provisions of the 2022 Electoral Act, which grants courts jurisdiction only in cases involving primary elections of political parties.
Regarding the PDP counsel's argument that the plaintiffs had failed to approach the party’s national leadership before filing the suit, Justice Bawale stated that the court was satisfied that the plaintiffs had exhausted all internal mechanisms for resolving the dispute before seeking legal redress.
Despite this, the judge upheld that the case was not within the court's jurisdiction and dismissed it.
Reacting to the ruling, the plaintiffs’ lawyer, Barrister Mustafa Shitu Mahuta, expressed dissatisfaction with the judgment and vowed to appeal on behalf of his clients.
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