In the midst of speculation about who is behind the suit filed against the Peoples Democratic Party’s presidential candidate, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, a former presidential aspirant on the party’s platform, Dr Cosmos Ndukwe, has stated that he is not the governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike.
Dr Cosmos Ndukwe
His clarification came after Wike denied suing his party’s presidential candidate.
The governor claimed he neither went to court nor asked anyone to file a lawsuit on his behalf. The governor is currently appeasing All Progressives Congress, APC, chieftains and inviting them to commission projects in Rivers instead of his PDP colleagues.
He added that Atiku’s supporters were the source of reports about the suit.
Wike made the remarks on Friday in Port Harcourt while some projects were being formally commissioned.
“I want to state categorically that if I wanted to go to court, I will go to court. I have kept quiet and busy delivering dividends of democracy. If I wanted to, I would have gone to court within two weeks after the primary. Because that is a pre-election matter. It is the candidate’s group doing all these. And they’re not doing him any favour. But I wish them good luck,” he said.
However, it was widely reported that a lawsuit had been filed against Atiku, Sokoto State governor Aminu Tambuwal, and the PDP over the party’s presidential primary process.
Since Atiku won the PDP presidential nomination and Wike finished as the first runner-up, the two have been at odds. Atiku chose Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa as his running mate in the 2023 election instead of Wike.
Prayers
In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/782/2022, Wike and a chieftain of the PDP, Newgent Ekamon, were listed as plaintiffs. In the originating summons, the PDP was said to be listed as the first respondent while the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was the second respondent. Tambuwal and Atiku were listed as the third and fourth respondents respectively.
Ekamon asked the court to determine eight points including whether the transfer of Tambuwal’s votes to Atiku in the primary was illegal and void.
Meanwhile, Ndukwe, a former Deputy Speaker, Abia State House of Assembly, whose name didn’t appear in the suit, in an exclusive chat with Sunday Vanguard, claimed ownership of the suit.
He said he decided to take Atiku and PDP to court for gross violation of the party’s constitution on zoning.
The erstwhile presidential aspirant argued that PDP had over the years enshrined zoning in its constitution and observed the same for equity and justice but expressed shock that the party for no justifiable reasons decided to jettison zoning in choosing its presidential flag bearer for 2023.
The former Chief of Staff to Abia State governor said he had before the primaries gone to court to challenge the refusal of the party to zone its presidential ticket to the South.
