Court Affirms SDP Congress in Kwara

Hammed Shittu in Ilorin

The Federal High Court sitting in Ilorin at the weekend struck out a suit challenging the election of the current executives of the Kwara State chapter of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

The court, however, affirmed the conduct of the state congress of the party that produced the present executive members of the SDP and also declined jurisdiction on the case describing it as “non-justiciable.”

Some former executive members of SDP in the state led by their Chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Mabolaje Yahaya, who claimed to be the ‘original’ members of the party had approached the court challenging their exclusion in party’s congress held April 26, 2022.

Mr. Yahaya, Oluwole Bello (Secretary), Adelowo Adebara Julius (treasurer) and Mrs. Iyabo Rachael (women parliament speaker) were the plaintiffs in the case.

The SDP’s national chairman, including the current State Chairman, Mr. Azeez Afolabi, and 15 others were the defendants in the suit.

The plaintiffs specifically accused the party of gross violation of the Constitution of SDP in the conduct of the April 26th, 2022 state congress that produced Afolabi as the state chairman.

Counsel to the Plaintiffs, Dr. Solomon Afolabi, in his originating summons with 10-paragraph reliefs, argued that the plaintiffs were the appropriate executives to organise the state congress.

Afolabi also declared that the outcome of the purported congress without the consent of the plaintiffs was null and void.

Other reliefs he sought were a “declaration that the exclusion of the plaintiffs and other legitimate members to vote in support of candidates of their choice or be voted for is in violation of the provisions of Section 82 (3) of the Electoral AC 2022 as amended.

“An order of perpetual injunction retraining national secretariat of SDP from recognising the incumbent party executives in the state or giving effect to any of their decisions or activities; an order restraining the state executive committee members from parading themselves as the Kwara State officers of the party at all levels and an order recognising SDP faction led by the first plaintiff at all levels.”

But in their preliminary defendants, Counsels to the Defendants, Mr. Aderemi Abimbola and Mr. Razaq Alabi, argued that the suit is statue barred having not commenced within the stipulated time by law, saying that “the action of the plaintiffs herein is grossly incompetent, same not having been commenced vide proper mode.”

They added that “the procedure of originating summons cannot validly be employed as this is a hostile proceedings; the plaintiff lacks locus standi to institute this suit and this suit does not disclose any reasonable cause of action.”

Delivering his judgment, Justice I.M. Sanni, ruled that “when a matter is non-justiciable, it means that a court cannot hear it. The court has no jurisdiction to look into it.”

Justice Sanni added that “the present suit filed by the plaintiffs is non-justiciable being an internal affair of a political party.

“The practice of the court is not to run associations, corporations and unincorporated associations for members.

“In the light of the foregoing, I decline jurisdiction and the end result is that the plaintiff’s case is according struck out.”