Okwe Obi, Abuja
There is no let up to the crisis rocking the Social Democratic Party (SDP), as the party’s forum of state chairmen has condemned the High Court ruling by Justice Hussein Baba-Yusuf nullifing the candidature of Mr Donald Duke as SDP’s presidential candidate in next year’s election.
The forum’s chairman, Oke Idawane, at a press briefing in Abuja, flayed the judgement, insisting that the court lacked the “locus stand to deny and scuttle the inalienable right of a presidential flag bearer who was duly elected and returned as the party’s candidate.”
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Idawene, argued that the court misinterpreted Article 15:3 (ii) (2) of the party’s constitution which states “the office of the President and National Chairman of the Party shall rotate between the South and North and among the six (6) geopolitical zones.”
He maintained that “what the overwhelming majority of delegates did on the October 6, 2018, was to elect our presidential candidate.
“We did not elect a president; otherwise the only logical consequence of Friday’s Abuja, High Court decision would be that Prof. Jerry Gana would be sworn in as president of Nigeria on May 22, 2019.”
He vowed that the forum, based on the above provision and clarification “will pursue to a logical conclusion, the mandate given to us by thousands of party members from the 37 states of Nigeria.”