Court Bars Katsina PDP Caretaker Committee from Running Party
Francis Sardauna in Katsina
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leadership crisis in Katsina State has taken a new dimension as the Lawal Uli-led faction has secured a court order restraining the newly inaugurated caretaker committee from running the affairs of the party.
Briefing journalists at the PDP secretariat yesterday on the court order, Uli said the interlocutory injunction had restrained the Chairman of the caretaker Committee, Dr. Abdulrahman Usman, and other members of the committee from spearheading the party’s affairs in the state.
The National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP had on March 22, 2023, dissolved the Katsina State Executive Committee, and appointed a 19-member caretaker committee chaired by Usman.
But Uli explained that they filed a suit with number: KTH/33/2023 at the state High Court challenging the formation of the committee with a motion on notice with number: KTH/477M/2023, seeking an order restraining Usman and others from parading themselves as caretaker committee of the PDP in the state.
Uli, who displayed a copy of the court order before journalists, said: “We obtained the court order for the motion on notice for interlocutory injunction dated April 6, 2023, restraining Dr. Abdulrahman Usman and others from parading themselves as caretaker committee of the PDP in Katsina State pending the hearing and determination of the instant suit.
“With this court order, all the 6,137 ward executives, 612 local government executives, and 39 state executives, totaling 6,788 officials of the party in the state would continue to carry out their statutory functions in line with the constitution of the party and the laws of the land.”
But when contacted, the Caretaker Committee Chairman, Usman, said the court has not authorised Salisu Uli and his foot soldiers to take over the PDP affairs in the state, and it cannot grant an interlocutory injunction without hearing from both parties involved in the suit.
According to him, “After studying the order, there is nowhere in which the so-called Uli, who claimed to be parading himself as the state chairman of the party, was so authorised to act in any way as such.”
He accused the Uli-led faction of the PDP of taken laws into their hands by sealing the secretariat of the party “in a very uncivilized way unexpected of responsible citizens as they claimed to be.”
Usman, however said: “But as law-abiding citizens, we shall follow due processes to ensure that justice is served in vacating the order and ensuring that we are properly join with them.”
